The third phase of municipal election across the country was held on Saturday. The election was held in a peaceful and festive manner in Moulvibazar and Noakhali municipalities, reports our Moulvibazar and Noakhali Correspondents.
In Moulvibazar, voting began at 8am in the morning at the Bazar Government Primary School which will continue till 4pm. Long lines of voters were seen at the centre since the morning. Voters were seen waiting in a line about 70 feet long outside the centre while visiting.
Kazi Mohammad Bhuiyan, a voter of the municipal area who came to vote at the time said, "We have come to cast our vote in a peaceful manner without any hassle”.
Another voter Abdul Wahab Sheikh said, "We will return after casting our vote even after a long wait. We want the polls to be fair. It feels so good to be standing in line waiting to exercise our voting rights”.
Ruling Awami League nominated candidate for the mayor post in the election is incumbent Mayor Md. Fazlur Rahman while BNP-nominated mayoral candidate is Oliur Rahman.
Incumbent Mayor Md. Fazlur Rahman cast his vote at Dakhil Madrasa centre in the town at 8 am.
A total of 39 candidates, including 28 general councillors and 10 reserved women councillors, fought in the election.
The number of total voters in the municipality is 43,447. Of these, 22,750 are male and 20,797 are female voters. During the election, the number of polling centres was 16 with 125 booths.
Meanwhile, voting in Chaumuhani municipality of Begumganj upazila of Noakhali was also held in a peaceful manner on the day.
Female and male voters were seen standing in long lines in front of 20 centres of the municipality from 8 am to cast their votes. Voters exercised their franchise in a festive atmosphere in the presence of a large number of voters at the centres.
In order to conduct the election in a peaceful atmosphere, more than three hundred policemen besides 6 platoon BGB, 6 teams of RAB, 17 mobile teams of police, 9 striking teams, 15 executive magistrates and one judicial magistrate were deployed in the polling centres and surrounding areas.
A large number of voters wait in a long queue to cast their votes during Moulvibazar municipal polls on Saturday.
Chattogram Range DIG of police Md. Anwar Hossain told reporters after inspecting various polling stations that law enforcement agencies were working to ensure utmost security at the time.
Four candidates contested for the pst of mayor in Chaumuhani municipal election while 36 general councillor candidates and 13 female councillor candidates contested in 9 wards.
Awami League nominated mayoral candidate was Awami League president and current Mayor Akhter Hossain Faisal and BNP nominated candidate for the post was Municipal BNP president Zahir Uddin Harun.
In addition, independent candidate Mamunur Rashid Kiran MP's elder brother Khaled Saifullah and Islamic Rule Movement nominated candidate Md. Zaker Hossain also competed for the mayoral post.
There are a total of 54,254 voters in Chaumuhani municipality. Of these, 25,641 are female voters and 26,513 are male voters.
