After the establishment of legal complexities, not a single election was held in Ajmiriganj municipality of Habiganj. The same person has been the administrator for 14 years. That is why more than 13 thousand people are deprived of democratic rights.
Development work is not done properly. There is no progress in civic life. The once bustling Ajmiriganj market has also lost its tradition. The locals have demanded that the elections be held soon.
It is learned that on January 21, 2004, Ajmiriganj Upazila Sadar was declared as a municipality. The Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) was appointed as the administrator. BNP leader Golam Farooq was appointed administrator in December of the same year.
Then the ward segmentation activities started. However, Noagaon, Fatehpur and Shukrabari villages of Upazila Sadar were excluded from the municipality.
A man named Touhid Mia filed a writ petition in the high court seeking inclusion of the three villages in the municipality. In view of this, the court issued an order on ward division activities. That is why 14 years have passed since its establishment but no election has been held.
Anonymous people said that if the election was held according to the rules, there would be a risk of losing the power of the people's representatives.
If that happened then the responsibility would also increase. Since there has been only one municipal administrator for 14 years, there has not been much development. That is why they have demanded an election soon.
It has been seen on the spot that there is an old signboard of Ajmiriganj municipality office in a dilapidated building. The cars are almost useless due to being unused. Residents of the area said that water gets inside the building when it rains a little.
When contacted, Ajmiriganj Municipality Administrator Golam Farooq said the development work was being carried out properly. However, the citizens have been deprived of the right to vote. He did not comment on whether there was a need for an election.
In this regard, Deputy Director of Habiganj Local Government Department Md Nurul Islam said, “The election was closed due to a court case. We cannot do much about it.”
