The opposition BNP did not field any mayoral candidate and took punitive measures against party leaders contesting as councillor candidates in Wednesday's election to Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), but seven of them won the polls that saw a 56.2% turnout.
Besides, 22 councillor candidates from the Awami League and one from the Workers Party were elected.
On June 8, a total of 16 BNP leaders including five vying for reserved seats for women were expelled for life for going against the party's decision. Moreover, the party also instructed members to refrain from campaigning and casting votes, as it did in the recently-concluded polls in Gazipur, Barisal, Khulna, and Sylhet.
Five of the banned candidates won the race for general councillor posts. They are Ward No 11 unit's Abu Bakkar Kinu, former assistant general secretary of BNP's Shahmakhdum unit Abdus Sobhan Liton, former president of Shahmakhdum unit Jubo Dal Belal Ahmed, former joint convener of Boyalia unit Jubo Dal Alif Al Mahmud Luken, and former vice president of Motihar unit BNP Ashraful Hossain Bachchu.
Two other winners—former Jubo Dal leader Shahidul Islam Pocha and activist Akhtaruzzaman Koel—were not expelled.
Alongside the four contenders for mayor, there were some 112 general councillor candidates in 30 wards and 46 for 10 reserved seats for women councillors.
Awami League-backed candidates won most of the posts, with the incumbent mayor, AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, clinching his third-straight victory. Liton bagged 160,290 votes while his closest rival Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Murshid Alam got just 13,883 votes.
The other parties that gave a mayoral candidate are Jatiya Party and Zaker Party.
