Staff Reporter :
Voting in the two Dhaka City Corporation election concluded with low voter turnout and lack of enthusiasm among voters.
Though the voter turnout was low, no unprecedented incident occurred in any polling stations. Voters exercised their franchise without any pressure, free of tension.
Due to low turnout of voters, many centres looked dull and deserted.
The voting in the by-election for the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayor, and 18 councillor posts in its 18 new wards, and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)’s 18 councillors began at 8:00am, and continued till 4:00pm without break.
Atiqul Islam, Awami League’s mayor candidate for the DNCC secured 3,04,054 votes in 505 centers out of 1,286 till counting going on at 9 pm.
Earlier he cast his vote around 9:10am at Nawab Habibullah Model School and College polling centre in the capital’s Uttara.
Jatiya Party’s mayor candidate singer Shafin Ahmed got 11,868 votes
Earlier he cast his vote at Manarat International School centre in the city’s Gulshan around 12:20pm.
The DNCC mayor election witnessed low voter turnout due to the rain in the morning hours.
Polling officials said that voters could not go to the centres in the morning due to rain. Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda said the low voter turnout in the ongoing elections to the two city corporations is not the responsibility of the Election Commission (EC).
“It’s the responsibility of candidates and political parties to bring voters to polling centres,” he said while talking to reporters after casting his own vote at IES School and College Polling Station in the city’s Uttara area.
The CEC said, “the Commission’s responsibility is to create an election environment, not to bring the voters to polling stations”.
Voting took place at 1,286 voting centres in Dhaka north City Corporation for 30.35 lakh voters.
At Little Flower International School in Kazipara, only 14 votes voters cast their franchise till 9:14am, said Khan Humayun Kabir, Presiding Officer of the election centre while talking to the media.
Juvenile Care School at Mirpur Lalkuti saw 32 votes around 10:40am, said Mohsin Mia, Presiding Officer. There are 1,808 votes in the centre.
Besides, Gopal Chandra Saha, Presiding Officer at Physical Education College, Dhaka said that only two voters out of 2,227 cast their votes in the centre till 11:30am.
The mayor by-polls lost its appeal after some political parties including the BNP boycotted it claiming that a free and fair election would not be possible under the Awami League government.
The mayor post fell vacant following the death of Annisul Huq on November 30, 2017. He was elected mayor on April 28, 2015.
A total of five candidates are vying for the mayor post while 116 for the councillor positions.
The five candidates are Atiqul Islam of Awami League (Boat); Shafin Ahmed of Jatiya Party (Plough); Anisur Rahman of the National People’s Party (Mango), Shahin Khan of the Progressive Democratic Party (Tiger), and independent candidate Abdur Rahim (Table Clock).
The total number of voters in the mayor by-polls is around 30.35 lakh and polling centres 1,286.
For the councillors election around 5.9 lakh people are expected to vote. Besides, 45 candidates are vying for six councillor posts reserved for women.
According to the Election Commission sources, 19 law enforcers were deployed at each polling station, while 23 for each “risky” polling station. Besides, 72 executive magistrates discharged their duty in Dhaka north city areas and 24 others in Dhaka south city areas on Thursday’s election.
