Of a total of 663 people running for Dhaka ward councillors, around 30% were unwilling to disclose their education and nearly 8 out of 10 make their living from businesses.
Nearly a tenth said they were literate and 21% aspirants said they were “self educated.” Almost 79% (522) stated business or contractor as their main source of income.
Only three claimed their profession was “politics” and more than a tenth stated “house rent” as their source of income. A little over 14% said they were contractors.
Dhaka has 93 wards with the provision of one councillor from each and 31 reserved woman councillors. With 663 aspirants vying for 93 city corporation seats, there are a little over seven candidates for each.
Of them, only 54 or 8.16% have masters and another 93 (14.04%) have bachelor degrees. SSC and HSC graduates make up 188 candidates (28.39%).
Just 1.97% (13) of the aspiring councillors are lawyers. Besides, there will be a bunch of more colourful characters joining the fray.
Generation gap
Born in 1942, Dhaka south’s mayoral aspirant ASM Akram is the oldest contender in the upcoming polls. In his affidavit, the 72-year-old says that he has had no schooling after his school finals. He says that he jointly owns a house/apartment and earns Tk5 lakh every year in rent.
Akram intends to borrow Tk1 lakh from his sister and expects a donation of Tk50,000 from a relative who is a lawyer.
The youngest mayoral candidate offers another obvious contrast beyond the age gap. The BNP backed 36-year-old Tabith M Awal in Dhaka north is far wealthier besides being the youngest mayoral candidate. According to the information at the election office, Tabith is a businessman with a post-graduate degree in information system technology.
PhD in politics
While most of the ward councillor aspirants described themselves as either “literate” or “self-educated”, which could also be perceived as reluctance to disclose their extent of education, Bodiuzzaman from Dhaka north’s ward 11 claims to have a PhD.
His main source of income is house rent which gets him Tk2,56,255 every year. Bodiuzzaman has no criminal records.
Chronic cases
But Anwaruzzaman, running for ward 27 councillor of Dhaka north, faces 47 cases. He was recently acquitted of the 48th.
His affidavit says he holds equity in a different kinds businesses with a yearly income of Tk5.2 lakh. The former ward councillor and a leader of BNP city unit has studied up to HSC.
Lokman Hossain Fakir from ward 13 of Dhaka south comes in second with 45 cases against him. He is the owner of Tisha Enterprise that retails crockery and toilet fittings fetching him Tk2.15 lakh per year.
Teeing off
The only sportsman running in this year’s city polls, Younus Bokhari, councillor aspirant from Dhaka north’s ward 15, describes himself as a golfer but his main source of income is rent from house, apartments and shops.
Younus Bokhari, who has educated till the eighth grade, does not have any criminal record.
He has Tk50,000 in cash and does not have any bank deposit. However, he owns a piece of land with other shareholders.
Hawking for himself
Shafikul Islam, a street vendor, filed his nomination paper from Ward 18 of Dhaka north to run for councillor. 36-year old Shafikul had schooling up to his SSC and faces two criminal cases.
This vendor of children’s clothes, has an income of Tk80,000. That aside, he also earns Tk60,000 from rents.
According to his affidavit, Shafikul Islam also partly owns a house and a shop in Shahjahadpur, Gulshan.
Another hawker, Taslim Ahmed, filed his papers for councillor of Dhaka south ward 20.
A self-educated man, 57-year old Taslim’s main source of income is from selling various items on the pavements. He earns Tk2.18 lakhs this business and said he has cash worth Tk3 lakh.
Ahmed’s wife has 10 tolas of gold and he has electronic goods worth Tk1 lakh at home.
Private tutor goes public
House tutor Arifur Rahman will run for councillor of Dhaka south ward 9. The 35-year old private tutor of Arambag said he is a commerce graduate with an earning of Tk60,000.
Arif listed a cell phone, a bed and a chair under his assets.
Another candidate from ward 2, Abdul Mannan, also claimed to be a house tutor. The 47-year old Mannan said he passed HSC and earns Tk50,000 from tuition besides Tk1 lakh from proceeds of agriculture.
Newsman to newsmaker
Several journalists are also contesting ward councillor posts for both of Dhaka’s city corporations.
Md Matiur Rahman (Mikel), a graduate, filed papers for Dhaka north ward 4 stating that he is a presenter of the state run BTV. He also said he has other businesses.
The 50-year old ward councillor hopeful said he earns Tk2.6 lakh from his business and Tk1.45 from his job. He does not have any criminal record.
Another journalist, AMH Kamruzzaman, said he was a news producer of ATN Bangla. He completed his post graduation in economics and earns Tk2.64 lakh.
The 38-year old journalist who will run for councillor of ward 28 of Dhaka north does not have any criminal record.
A self-educated journalist, Sahid Chowdhury, is contesting for councillor of ward 26 of Dhaka north. The 46-year old Sahid said he is a journalist of Dainik Nishana. He, however, did not mention his amount of income.
Sheikh Sarwar filed his nomination paper for ward councillor of ward 12 of Dhaka South. A staff reporter of weekly Durnitir Sondhane, 46-year old Sarwar is also a project supervisor for Prime Developers Limited.
The self-educated newsman stated his yearly earnings to be Tk2.1 lakh.
Mujibur Rahman Khan, a photo journalist of Alliance France Dhaka, will run for councillor of Dhaka south ward 23.
Mujib earns Tk4 lakh teaching photography at the French cultural centre.
