Publicity campaigns for the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) elections ends at midnight on Sunday, with non-voting Awami League and BNP leaders being barred from running any such drives today.
The Election Commission (EC) has barred people from outside Gazipur from entering the area with the purpose of staying, and vehicles from plying in Gazipur from Sunday night through Tuesday, in the wake of the election. Travel along the main highway is restricted to ambulances, post department vehicles, police, and the fire service. Businesses and industries have also been instructed to halt their operations on the day of the election.
Police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Rapid Action Battalion members (RAB) have been deployed, with 29 platoons of BGB, 58 RAB teams, and 57 mobile and 20 striking forces being dispatched for the duration of the election.
GCC election Returning Officer Rakib Uddin Mandal confirmed these facts, saying: “We are almost finished with our preparations, having trained 9,000 polling officers on Friday, and have begun the deployment of law-enforcement. We are employing a large number of law enforcers in order to ensure a free and fair election, and will make sure nobody can cause unsavoury incidents.
“Those who are working with us will attend a training session on Monday morning, where they will be briefed on their responsibilities. Today, we are going to allocate the equipment and supplies needed for the election at my workplace on the first floor of the Banga Taj Auditorium, and make sure they reach polling centres by tomorrow,” he continued.
“These supplies include indelible ink markers, brass and rubber seals, sealing wax, ballot boxes, voter lists, etc. Other supplies such as paper, ball-point pens, glue, etc. will be acquired locally” he added.
The GCC election will feature 425 polling centres, of which 337 have been marked “vulnerable”. At these centres, 24 law enforcers will be deployed, with 12 armed with firearms and 12 with batons. At others centres, there will be 10 armed guards.
The GCC election will be held on Tuesday, and will feature 7 mayoral candidates. 254 general ward candidates and 84 reserved ward candidates will battle over 57 general wards and 19 reserved wards. The constituency has a registered voter base of 1,137,737.
