Municipal election contestants in Sylhet had a busy day yesterday as they campaigned vigorously in different areas in an effort to win the support of voters.
With participation of central leaders of their respective parties, they conducted extensive door-to-door campaigns, and held street rallies and meetings to ask people to vote for them.
Both the Awami League and the BNP worked in teams in different parts of the district during yesterday’s electioneering.
BNP’s Sylhet district unit Joint Convener Ali Ahmed said candidates of his party would claim easy victory in the polls as the people were fed up with the government’s misrule.
He also said BNP contestants would certainly win if there were no attempts to right the elections.
Awami League’s Sylhet unit Deputy Office Secretary Zaglu Chowdhury said campaigns had been conducted in different municipalities of the district under the leadership of the party’s Central Organising Secretary Misbah Uddin Siraj.
“We are very optimistic that our candidates will win as the Awami League-led government has implemented many development projects in the district’s three municipalities,” he added.
The mood of yesterday’s electioneering was different as central leaders of different parties, including the Awami League and the BNP, joined it.
BNP’s Golam Kibria Chowdhury Shahin, Awami League’s Zakaria Ahmed Piplu, Awami League rebel candidates Sirajul Islam Jabbar Chowdhury and Aminul Islam Rabel, and Aminul Islam Amin of Khelafat Majlis campaigned in Golapganj municipal area yesterday and central leaders joined them.
BNP’s Shahin during campaign announced his election manifesto in the presence of Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, adviser to the BNP chairperson and also the head of the party’s Sylhet divisional monitoring cell, and Central Joint Organsing Secretary Sakhawat Hossain Jibon.
On the other hand, Sylhet District Bar Association’s former president Ruhul Amin Chowdhury Mintu and other party leaders campaigned for Awami League candidate Piplu, who is also the incumbent mayor of Golapganj municipality.
Awami League rebel candidates Sirajul Islam Jabbar Chowdhury and Aminul Islam Rabel campaigned in a number of villages but no central leader joined them.
Khelafat Majlis Central Organising Secretary Md Muntasir Ali attended several programmes to campaign for Aminul Islam Amin.
A voter of the area, Syed Delwar Hossain, told the Dhaka Tribune the main competition would be among the two rebel candidates of the Awami League and BNP’s Shahin.
Meanwhile, Sylhet district Awami League General Secretary Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury and Vice-president Ashfaq Ahmed yesterday campaigned for Khalilur Rahman, a candidate of Zakiganj municipality.
Dhaka North City Corporation Councillor Monir Chowdhury campaigned for the municipality’s rebel Awami League candidate Faruq Ahmed.
On the other hand, BNP Joint Organising Secretary Jibon, Sylhet unit convener Nurul Haque and several other leaders campaigned for party candidate Badrul Haque.
The December 30 elections will be held in 16 municipalities of Sylhet. Of those, three are in Sylhet, five in Habiganj, and four each in Moulvibazar and Sunamganj.
The number of total voters in 16 municipal areas stands at 3,305,181. Of them, 1,609,954 are males and 1,605,227 females.
Out of 189 polling stations in the municipalities, 160 have been identified as risky by law enforcement agencies.
Sylhet district Election Officer Azizul islam said all preparations had been taken to hold free and fair polls.
Police will be deployed at risky polling stations to ensure adequate security, he added.
