Violating the Barisal City Corporation (BCC) election conduct rules, coloured billboards focusing on various achievements of the 14-party alliance backed candidate, have been put up in different parts of the city.
These billboards, placed at certain key-points in the city, describe achievements and future commitments of the outgoing mayor and city AL president, Shawkat Hossain Hiron, who is also contesting for the mayoral position.
However, some of the billboards cited “placed by the people of the area” and also included the names of organisations associated with the AL.
Ahsan Habib Kamal, district BNP president and the 18-party alliance backed mayoral candidate, said placing of billboards is a clear violation of the election conduct rules and destroys the environment needed for conducting free and fair polls.
Dulal Talukdar, assistant returning officer of the third BCC election, said the Election Commission’s (EC) observation team, on receiving news about the alleged violation, visited the spots and asked magistrates of seven mobile court teams to take action and dismantle the billboards.
Mahbubuddin Bir Bikram, member secretary of Sammilito Nagorik Parishad, who is conducting the election campaign of Hiron, said they did not place the billboards and the EC is empowered to take action against the violation.
Meanwhile, the police announced that check posts would be activated soon, under arrangements for the three-tier security arrangements for the poll.
Shoyeb Ahmed, deputy commissioner (headquarter) of Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP), said more than 3,000 policemen would be engaged in maintaining law and order before and after the BCC election. Seven to nine check posts will be activated from June 13 at the entrance and key points of the city. The police will also operate drives to recover arms and explosives.
He said sixty out of 100 voting centres for the election are considered “important” and 24 police and Ansar personnel would be engaged at each of those centres. At the other 40 centres, 22 policemen and the Ansar will be deployed.
Besides, 30 mobile teams of law enforcers will be on the move in the 30 wards of the city and 15 teams of the Rapid Action Battalion will be functional during the election period, including coast guards who will be active in the riverside areas, the BMP official added.