As it happened in the elections to Gazipur and Barisal city corporations, a number of expelled BNP leaders in Sylhet and Rajshahi were elected ward councillors in Wednesday's polls.
They succeeded in the latest polls, held in a peaceful manner, despite being “punished” by the BNP for violating its decision to boycott any election under the Awami League government.
In the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) election, nine expelled BNP leaders were elected councillors. Of them, five became councillors for the second time.
Eight of the councillors are Syed Taufiqul Hadi in ward No 1, Farhad Chowdhury Shamim in ward No 6, Nazrul Islam Munim in ward No 14, ABM Zillur Rahman in ward No 18, Abdul Raqib Tuhin in ward No 21, Humayun Kabir Suhin in ward No 24, Altaf Hossain Sumon in ward No 39 and Delwar Hossain Nadeem in ward No 33.
Among the reserved ward councillors, BNP's expelled candidate Ruhena Khanam Mukta was also elected in ward No 4.
Earlier this month, the BNP expelled 38 leaders, including the mayoral candidate, and instructed presidents and secretaries of 27 wards to make lists of party workers participating in any kind of election campaigning on behalf of the expelled mayor or councillor or other candidates.
In the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) election, seven expelled BNP leaders were elected councillors.
On June 8, a total of 16 BNP leaders, including five vying for reserved seats for women, were expelled for life for going against the party's decision.
Moreover, the party also instructed members to refrain from campaigning and casting votes.
Earlier, eight expelled BNP councillor candidates won in Barisal on June 12 and another 11 in Gazipur on May 25.
Losing deposits
Five mayoral aspirants in the SCC election among eight have lost their deposits owing to not obtaining enough votes.
The security deposits of all three defeated mayor candidates have been forfeited in Rajshahi.
Our Sylhet and Rajshahi correspondents Mohammed Serajul Islam and Abdullah Al Dulal contributed to the report.