GAZIPUR, June 26, 2018 (BSS) – Polling in Gazipur City Corporation (GCC)
is underway peacefully amid tight security.
Voting started at 8 in the morning with participation of a huge number
of voters, standing on a long queue. The voting will continue till 4pm
without any break.
Election Commission (EC) Secretary Helaluddin Ahmad earlier told BSS that
the EC completed all necessary preparations to hold the elections in Gazipur
City Corporation in a free, fair and peaceful manner.
According to Returning Officer’s office, a total of 345 candidates,
including seven for mayoral post, 254 for councilor posts, 83 for reserved
posts for women, are vying in the polls while 11,37,736 voters will be
exercising their franchises at 425 polling stations in 57 wards across the
city corporation area.
The mayor candidates are ruling Awami League nominated Md Jahangir Alam,
BNP nominated Hasan Uddin Sarker, Islami Oikkya Jote nominated Fazlur Rahman
(Minar), Islami Andolan Bangladesh nominated Md Nasir Uddin, Bangladesh
Islami Front nominated Md Jalal Uddin, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB)
nominated Md Ruhul Amin and independent candidate Farid Ahmed.
For the first time, the EC has taken an initiative to inform about the
situation of polling stations immediately. The presiding officers will inform
the EC Secretariat about overall situation of their respective voting centres
through SMS in every two hours. The commission will take necessary measures
on the basis of presiding officers SMS immediately.
A three-tier security measures are at place to ensure security during the
election, with nearly 10,500 members of law enforcement agencies, including
police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and
Ansar.