The hopeful mayoral candidates of the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) election gave the final touch to their campaign on the last day of the official electoral campaign.
Sources said the ruling party backed candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque and 18 party alliance backed candidate Moniruzzaman Moni were trying their best to draw the voters to their side, while Jatiya Party backed candidate Shafiqul Islam Madhu seemed to be far away from the mayoral battle.
Ahead of the national polls, the city corporation polls have become a significant issue for both of top two leading political parties of the country.
For the ruling party, it is the last chance to prove that a free and fair poll is possible to hold under an interim government. On the other hand, it is also the last chance for BNP to prove its popularity on the eve of the ruling party’s departure.
According to sources, votes of the floating voters would decide the fate of the KCC mayor post. Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Advocate Kudrat-e-Kabir, general secretary of Shushashoner Janney Nagorik, Khulna unit said labourers, slum dwellers and migrated people were the key factors to the KCC poll result.
“Although it is a local election, it has gained a national character due to the present situation of the country,” he said, and expressed concerned that to win the mayoral post of the KCC, the candidates were allegedly distributing money among the slum dwellers to persuade them to their side.
According to sources, there were at least 100,000 floating voters in KCC, and the local leaders assume that majority of these voters were expected to cast their votes for Khaleque, while the successors of the migrated Muslims, who came here after 1947, of the area were expected to vote for Moni.
Meanwhile, the young generation, around 41,000 new voters, were expected to cast their votes following their family beliefs, as they do not have any fascination for Khaleque or Moni.
According to locals, the labourers of the KCC were expected to cast votes for the 14 party backed candidate, as the ruling party reopened the closed mills and factories of the area that were shut down during the BNP tenure.
On the other hand, Jamaat-e-Islami has a strong base in the Khulna city, and almost all the Jamaat supporters were expected to go for Moni. Earlier this week, Khulna city unit Ameer Abul Kalam Azad declared to work for the BNP backed candidate.
Moni also held view exchange meetings with the Chhatra Shibir leaders who also promised Moni to work for him. Moreover, Moni is also expected to get support from the Hezat-e-Islam.
In Khulna city, there are huge number of migrated people from Gopalganj, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Noakhali and Barisal, and they are also considered as one of the key factors. All the candidates were trying their best to draw these floating voters to secure the KCC mayor post.