In an attempt to win voters’ favour, Bogra’s Kahaloo upazila municipality Mayor Md Helal Uddin Kabiraj hosted a massive feast on the local high school ground – allegedly shutting down the school to do so.
However, Helal’s feast did not impress the locals, especially parents of the students at the high school, locals told the Dhaka Tribune.
Sources said elections in nine municipalities under Bogra district is scheduled to take place in December, one of which is Kahaloo.
So as a part of his election campaign, Helal, also the president of Kahuloo upazila Awami League, arranged a electoral discussion with the locals and a massive feast for more than 12,000 people on Thursday.
In order to accommodate such a huge number of people, Helal used his influence to forcefully shut down Kahaloo Pilot High School for the day to use the school’s ground, according to several locals.
The programme started around 11am, with Helal and other local leaders speaking on the stage, and went on until the evening. Special arrangement was made for local Hindus.
The day-long event cost Helal around Tk1 crore, said a source close to the leader.
This expensive election stunt was not appreciated by many Kahaloo residents and gave birth to widespread criticism, sources said.
But no one voiced their objection aloud in fear of retribution, as Helal holds influence in the area. The local administration kept silent as well.
However, the school’s Headmaster Abdus Salam told journalists that the school was closed on Thursday for preparations of the Junior Secondary Certificate exams scheduled to begin tomorrow, not to host the mayor’s electoral campaign.
When contacted, Helal said: “The mayoral polls are coming up. So I used the school’s ground on a closed day to get learn people’s opinion of me. My partymen and local voters were invited there to exchange views.”
But when asked about how much he had spent to hold the event, Helal refused to answer.
