The Crime Desk: Two months after the 12th National Assembly elections, voting is going on for more than two hundred local government posts, including those in Mymensingh and Comilla City Corporation, six municipalities. Voting in the constituencies began on Saturday (March 9) at 8 a.m. It will run continuously until 4 p.m. Although voting was done through paper ballots in the last parliamentary elections, the voting will be done by electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Mymensingh and Comilla today, on Saturday.
This is the second election in Mymensingh City Corporation and a by-election for the post of Mayor in Comilla City. Apart from this, general elections are being held in Patuakhali municipality of Patuakhali district, Bakshiganj municipality of Jamalpur district, and Amtali municipality of Barguna district. By-elections are being held for the post of mayor in Trishal municipality of Mymensingh district, Munshiganj municipality of Munshiganj district, and Shivganj municipality of Bogra district. City Corporation, District Council, Municipal Council, Union Parishad—a total of 233 elections are being held at different levels of local government on this day.
Before this, the official campaigns of the candidates in these two constituencies ended last Thursday at midnight. A general holiday has been declared in these two areas on the occasion of the election. Traffic restrictions have been imposed.
The last election of Comilla City Corporation was held on June 15, 2022. Awami League candidate Arfanul Haque was elected mayor in that election. He died last December, a year and a half after taking office as mayor. That is why by-elections are being held for the post of mayor in Comilla. Monirul Haque (Sakku) lost to Arfanul Haque, the candidate of Comilla Metropolitan Awami League President and Member of Parliament of Comilla-6 (Adarsh Sadar) Constituency AKM Bahauddin, by only 343 votes in the last city election.
The two Awami League leaders who have become independent candidates in the mayoral by-election are Tahsin Bahar and Noor Ur Rahman Mahmud (Tanim). Among them, Tahsin is the organizational secretary of the Comilla Metropolitan Awami League. His father is a Member of Parliament, AKM Bahauddin. Tahseen has been officially supported by the Comilla Metropolitan Awami League. Another candidate is Noor Ur Rahman Comilla, Metropolitan Awami League Advisor.
Noorur Rahman is voting on the elephant symbol. The symbol of Tahseen is the bus. On the other hand, the former mayor of Comilla City was expelled from the BNP. Monirul Haque and Mohammad Nizam Uddin (Kaiser) are contesting as independent candidates for the post of mayor. Monirul Comilla is the former Joint General Secretary of the South District BNP. And Nizam is the former president of Comilla Mahanagar Svechasevak Dal. Monirul Haque is contesting on the ‘Table Clock’ and Nizamuddin ‘Horse’ symbols.
Monirul and Nizam were candidates in the last city election, going beyond the decision of the party. Then they were expelled from the party. They are still outcasts. However, many of the leaders and workers of local BNPs and organizations are working with them in this election as well.
According to party sources, there are two sections in Comilla South District BNP. One party is led by Comilla South District BNP convener Amin Ur Rashid. Independent candidate Nizam is his brother-in-law. Another party is led by Md. Monirul Haque. Independent candidate Monirul Haque claimed that Amin ur Rashid nominated his brother-in-law Nizam to win the Awami League in the last election. Same situation this time. This time, Amin nominated his brother-in-law.
Nizam was the reason behind Monirul’s defeat in the last election. On the other hand, although there were two candidates from the BNP in the last election, Arfanul Haque was the only candidate from the Awami League. This time, Noor Ur Rahman is also a candidate along with Tahsin. As a result, an area of more or less vote sharing has been created between the two. Total voters in Comilla City Corporation are 2 lakh, 42 thousand, and 458 people.
Meanwhile, Mymensingh City Corporation was formed in October 2018. The first election was held on May 5, 2019. In that election, Ikramul Haque was elected mayor unopposed as a candidate of the Awami League. This time he has to face competition, as several leaders of his party are candidates.
This time, former mayor and metropolitan Awami League president Ikramul Haque (Titu), district Awami League president Ehteshamul Alam, and district Awami League advisor Sadekul Haque Khan have been candidates for the post of mayor. The mayoral race between the three candidates has largely been glimpsed during the campaign. Apart from these three, agriculturist Rezaul Haque and Jatiya Party candidate Shahidul Islam have become independent candidates for the post of mayor.
Talking to the general voters of different areas of Mymensingh city, it is known that all three leaders of the Awami League went to the door of the voters with the promise of development. In the meantime, Sadekul and Ehteshamul have highlighted the civic problems of the city, including the unbearable traffic jam in front of the voters. If elected, both of them have promised voters to decongest Mymensingh city and reduce the ‘burden’ of holding tax (household tax).
On the other hand, Ikramul Haque asked the voters to show the development picture of the city in the last five years as well as to complete the unfinished works. Besides, the issue of standing by the people during the Corona epidemic was also part of his election campaign. There was a war of words between these three candidates in the election campaign.
A part of the Mymensingh Metropolitan Awami League is being evaluated. Ikramul has served as mayor for 12 consecutive years in municipal and city corporations. As a result, it has a kind of local acceptance. Also, he has a strong position in the party as the president of the Metropolitan Awami League. On the other hand, his opposition party could not field a single candidate in the mayoral election. Ikramul will get an advantage as several leaders of the party are candidates.
