Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is ready to hold the by-elections for the mayoral post on Thursday.
Simultaneously, voting for the posts of general councillors and reserved seat councillors will be held in 36 wards newly added to Dhaka North and South.
Election Commission Secretary, M Helaluddin, said the commission has already taken all the necessary steps to hold the by-polls and fresh elections in a free and fair manner in both Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporations.
“The commission has given necessary direction to the law enforcement agencies for taking legal action against any kind of violence or untoward incident during polling. All preparations to this end have already been completed,” he said.
The elections will be held from 8am to 4pm without any break.
Fresh elections will be held in a total of 36 extended wards, including 18 wards in DNCC and 18 in DSCC.
A total of 382 mayor, councillor, and reserved women councillor candidates, are participating in the election.
Five candidates, including Awami League nominated candidate Atiqul Islam, are contesting for the DNCC mayoral post.
The four other aspirants for the mayoral post are: Jatiya Party’s (JaPa) Shafin Ahmed, National People’s Party’s (NPP) Anisur Rahman Dewan, People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Shahin Khan, and independent candidate Abdur Rahim.
All electioneering for the by-polls and ward councillor elections ended on Wednesday midnight.
The Election Commission imposed a ban on the movement of all kinds of vehicles in the South and North election areas. The restriction will be effective from Wednesday midnight to Thursday midnight.
The Commission has also imposed a ban on the movement of motorbikes in the election areas from Tuesday midnight to Friday midnight.
Law enforcement agencies have already been deployed in the two city corporation areas to ensure the security of voters and smooth polls.
In terms of population, the DNCC is the country’s largest city corporation area with 23.45 lakh voters.