6 AL mayor including 4 rebel candidates withdraw nominations
Barisal Correspondent
Six mayor candidates including 4 rebel candidates of AL , 1 rebel of BNP and 1 alliance candidate of WP withdrawn along with 29 councilor candidates in election of six municipalities under Barisal district.
District election officer Abdul Halim, confirmed the reports on Sunday evening after expiry of the withdrawal time schedule at 5:00 ended on Sunday.
Delwar Hossain Haoladar, Jubo League central committee member, Didarul Ahsan Khan, upazila Sramik League convener and Aziz Haoladar, central president of Muktijoddha Projanmo League, 3 rebels AL candidates for mayoral post of Muladi and three-time elected outgoing mayor and upazila AL vice-president Golam Saleh Manju Molla, rebel AL candidate for mayoral post of Banaripara municipality, withdrawn their candidatures. Besides Mantu Lal Kundu, candidate for mayoral post of Banaripara municipality, also withdrawn his candidature in favour of alliance partner AL candidate.
Now 21 candidates for 6 mayoral posts of 6 municipalities included 6 from AL, 6 from BNP, 6 from Islami Anodolon, one from Workers Party, 1 from NPP, 1 from LDP remained in the election race in six municipalities i.e. Banaripara, Wazirpur, Gournadi, Muladi, Mehendiganj, Bakerganj, under Barisal district.
However withdrawal of rebel candidatures will make the fight direct between the candidates nominated by AL and BNP for mayoral posts in six municipalities, scheduled to be held on December 30.
Among the general councilor candidates 26, including 6 of Muladi, 8 of Gournadi, 5 of Mehendiganj, 3 of Banaripara, 4 of Wazirpur municipalities and 3 reserved female councilor candidates including 2 of Muladi and 1 of Banaripara also submitted their candidature withdrawal letters before the EC, district election officer told.
Now 173 candidates for 54 (9×6) general councilor and 59 candidates for 18 (3×6) reserved female councilor posts remained as valid after withdrawal on Sunday, district election officer said.
20 aspirants contesting for 6 mayoral posts
in Jessore
Jessore Correspondent
A total of 20 aspirants are now contesting for the six mayoral posts in six municipalities in Jessore. Three mayoral and 28 councilor aspirants withdrew their candidatures on Sunday, said sources in the election commission in Jessore.
In Jessore Municipality, four mayoral, 39 councilor and 12 councilor for the reserved seats of women are contesting.
There are 4 mayoral, 33 councilor and 8 women councilor candidates are in the race in Chaugachha Municipality.
Three mayoral, 44 councilor and 7 women councilor candidates are fighting in the race finally in Nawapara Municipality while 4 mayoral, 27 councilor and 5 women councilor candidates are contesting in Bagharpara Municipality.
In Monirampur, 3 mayoral, 30 councilor and 7 women councilor aspirants are contesting.
A total of two candidates are contesting for the single post of mayor, 27 for councilors and 8 for women councilor posts in Keshabpur Municipality.
Sylhet AL in trouble with rebel candidates
Sylhet Correspondent
The rebel mayoral candidates of the ruling Awami League in three municipalities in Sylhet district have been carrying on with electioneering ignoring the party’s ultimatum to pull out.
On December 9, the ruling party’s central high command gave its rebel candidates across the country 24 hours to pull out, but two rebels in Golapganj, and one each in Jokiganj and Kanaighat are not paying heed.
Former lawmaker Shafiqur Rahman, also the general secretary of Sylhet district unit Awami League, told the Dhaka Tribune that the party would wait until the last date for withdrawing nomination – which is today – before taking actions like expulsion.
The two rebels in Golapganj are Sirajul Jabbar Chowdhury, joint secretary of the upazila unit Awami League, and Aminul Islam Rabel, general secretary of UK unit Jubo League. In this municipality, the candidate who got the party’s formal nomination is Jakaria Ahmad Paplu, the incumbent mayor.
Both rebel candidates here claimed that they had decided to run in the election independently – which means they will not be using the “Boat” electoral symbol of the party they support – because they have strong supporter base in the local grassroots of the party.
Faruq Ahmad, former joint convener of upazila unit Awami League, is the rebel in Jokiganj. The party selected Khalilur Rahman, a freedom fighter, for the mayoral race in this municipality.
The rebel candidate said the initial cancellation of his nomination was a result of a conspiracy. The proof is that he got back his candidature after appeal. He also termed Awami League ticket-holder Khalilur Rahman an “intruder” in local politics.
In Kanaighat, ruling party leader Nizam Uddin Al Mizan is the rebel. Incumbent mayor Lutfur Rahman, also convener of upazila Awami League, got the party ticket here. This reporter, however, could not contact Nizam over phone.
According to a source in the Awami League, the party has sent letters to the rebel candidates across the country asking them to pull out.
But three of these four rebel candidates, whom the Dhaka Tribune managed to contact until yesterday, claimed that they had not received any such letter as of yet.
