Staff Reporter :
The ruling Awami League (AL) on Sunday nominated Atiqul Islam and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh as its candidates to contest the mayor posts for Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) respectively in the upcoming elections.
The AL General Secretary, Obaidul Quader, announced the names of the candidates following an emergency meeting of AL Local Government Election Nomination Board held at the political office of AL President Sheikh Hasina at Dhanmondi in the city.
As many as 20 aspirants submitted forms for nomination as mayoral candidates and 1,225 as councillors for the January 30 polls.
Immediately after the announcement of the nominations, Taposh made a pledge to work to build an improved Dhaka city. Atiqul Islam sought cooperation from voters in Dhaka North in tackling challenges facing the city.
Taposh, son of the Juba League founder Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, soon after the announcement steps down from his parliamentary seat as per the regulations to contest the city corporation elections. He won three times in the national election from Dhaka-10 constituency.
After the city corporation was split, an election was held in 2015 and Annisul Huq was elected as Dhaka North mayor while Sayeed Khokon for Dhaka South.
After the death of Annisul Huq, Atiqul Islam was elected in the DNCC by-election in 2018 backed by the ruling Awami League. The post went vacant following the death mayor Annisul on Nov 30, 2017.
However, the election was boycotted the BNP and other parties.
Atiqul is a brother of former chief justice Md Tofazzal Islam and former Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) chief Moinul Islam.
A former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) for 2013-14, he now heads the Centre of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industries (CEBAI).
Besides, Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh is the son of Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, nephew of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and founder of Jubo League. Taposh is a three-time lawmaker for the Dhaka-10 constituency.
His elder brother Prof. Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash is the Jubo League Chairman while his uncle Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim is a member of the AL presidium and also a former chairman of Jubo League.
Earlier on Saturday, the BNP nominated engineer Ishraque Hossain and Tabith Awal to run for the mayor elections to the bifurcated Dhaka City Corporation. Ishraque will vie for Dhaka South and Tabith for Dhaka North city corporations.
Ishraque’s father Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who died in November this year, was the last mayor of the undivided Dhaka City Corporation.
Tabith, a member of the party’s National Executive Committee, had fought for the DNCC mayoral post in 2015, but lost to the Awami League’s Annisul Huq. His father Abdul Awal Mintoo is a Vice-Chairman of the party.
Sources said, the AL party has not picked Sayeed Khokon, the incumbent mayor for DSCC, because of his failure to bring positive changes in his area. He also received widespread criticism from different quarters because of his failure in tackling the dengue outbreak this year.
According to the Election Commission, the mayor and councillor aspirants of both DNCC and DSCC will have to submit their nomination papers to the commission by December 31.
The nomination papers will be scrutinized on January 2, while the aspirants will have until January 9 to withdraw their candidature.
