Narayanganj City Corporation mayor-elect Selina Hayat Ivy claimed she could have won by a wider margin of at least 100,000 votes if “voting was not so slow.”
Her remarks came in response to Taimur Alam Khandaker, the defeated candidate who claimed the voting had been rigged.
“The media was there and the law enforcers were there. So, when did election engineering happen?” she said while responding to media queries on Sunday.
Dismissing Taimur’s claims, the three-time mayor alleged that voting was slow at the polling stations.
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Despite the peaceful and participatory election, on Sunday, voters at most of the centres struggled to cast their votes by the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
There were reports of fingerprint mismatches and delays due to technical glitches. Long queues of voters were seen and many were seen waiting for up to four hours to cast their votes.
“The people of Narayanganj have proven once more that this is an Awami League stronghold,” Ivy said and added that the wellbeing of the citizens will be her first priority.
According to Ivy, who contested the polls with the ruling party ticket, the elections were challenging and her win remains the biggest success.
She dedicated the victory to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
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Responding to queries on whether the Naryanganj-4 Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman had congratulated her yet, she said: “Not yet. Maybe he will later.”
Ivy, defeated her closest rival Taimur Alam Khandaker by over 66,835 votes during the city polls on Sunday.
She was elected after securing 159,397 votes against the 92,562 votes cast for her nearest contender and independent candidate Taimur.
With the victory, Ivy remains the only mayor of the NCC, which was formed in 2011. Ivy, the first female mayor in Bangladesh, is also now the first to become the mayor of a city corporation for the third time in a row.