BNP now says Rangpur city polls ‘more or less’ acceptable

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said his party still has no confidence in the Election Commission though the Rangpur city election was more or less acceptable. "We don't have confidence in the Election Commission as its formation process was wrong," he said. The BNP leader further said, "Our proposal was to constitute the Election Commission with noted persons whom people can trust. The Rangpur election was not a major one. The real pulse of the Commission can be assessed when there'll be a major election." He came up with the remarks while talking to reporters at his residence in the Kalibari area in the district. Jatiya Party candidate Mustafizur Rahman won the Rangpur City Corporation polls held on Thursday defeating his nearest rival Awami League contender Sarfuddin Ahmed Jhantu by a huge margin.

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According to the unofficial results, Mostafiz bagged 1,60,489 votes while Jhantu polled 62,400 and BNP candidate Kawsar Jahan Babla got only 35,136 votes. Fakhrul said the country's people will not accept if the government tries to impose another 2014-like general election on them. Later, Fakhrul went to Panchagarh district and carried out electioneering in favour of Boda municipality BNP mayoral candidate Hakikul Islam.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir campaigns in favour of Panchagarh's Boda municipality mayoral candidate Hakikul Islam, right, on Friday; December 22, 2017 Dhaka TribuneSpeaking at a wayside rally, he criticized the government for its failure to arrest the soaring prices of essentials and the slide in the law-and-order situation. He urged the BNP leaders and activists to work together for the BNP candidate putting aside all the conflicts and misunderstanding among them to ensure the party's victory in the municipality polls. Though Fakhrul called the Rangpur polls more or less acceptable, BNP senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that there was a “subtle rigging” in it. Speaking at a human chain program in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital, Rizvi also said people know what happened to the Rangpur polls. "Everyone knows what Awami League did in Rangpur. But they'll justify it with their various campaigns." He also said Awami League is a “wonderful institution” to produce “liars and rogues.”