The polling in Barisal, Rajshahi and Sylhet city corporations ended amid allegations, counter allegation and boycotting election.
The polling booths for these three City Corporations election closed on Monday at 4pm.
Candidates boycott election in BCC
Alleging vote manipulation, BNP mayoral candidate Mujibur Rahman Sarwar, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) candidate Abul Kalam Azad and Islami Andolon Bangladesh candidate Maolana Obaidur Rahman boycotted the election while Socialist Party of Bangladesh’s (SPB) mayoral candidate Manisha Chakraborty and independent Iqbal Hossain Taposh demanded suspension of voting.
However, Returning Officer Mojibur Rahman claimed that the situation was under control and there was no possibility of cancelling the polls.
Voting was suspended at Barishal City College centre.
Bulbul refuses to cast vote
Voting ended in Rajshahi city peacefully without any major violence.
BNP’s mayoral candidate for Rajshahi City Corporation, Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul, refused to cast his vote and began an impromptu protest by sitting down at Islamia Degree College centre, saying he found an upsetting scenario at all the 30 polling stations he visited since morning.
Apart from his allegation, voters are quite happy as the election ended without major violence and unwanted incidents.
Awami League mayoral candidate AHM Khairuzzaman Liton expressed strong confidence that he would clinch a landslide victory against his rivals.
Voting suspended at four centres in Sylhet
The Election Commission suspended voting at four centres in Sylhet after allegations of vote rigging and irregularities.
These were two of the three centres at the Shahjalal Jamia Islamia Kamil Madrasah, Shah Gazi Syed Borhanuddin Madrash under ward 24 and Habinandi Government Primary School under ward 27.
BNP candidate Ariful Haque Chowdhury alleged that the ballot boxes in a few wards were already stuffed last night. However, despite such wide-spread rigging he would not boycott the polls as he wants to "see the end of it."
In the meantime, Awami League candidate Badar Uddin Kamran claimed that he will accept the people's verdict, adding that the election was held in a free and fair manner.
