New EC faces its first acid test in Baghaichhari

The newly formed Election Commission faces its first acid test as voting has begun in Rangamati’s Baghaichhari municipality polls. Voting began around 8am Saturday and will continue till 4pm. The total number of voters in Baghaichhari is 10,117, of whom 1,700 are indigenous people. People queued up for casting their votes in Baghaichhari municipality polls/Dhaka Tribune Awami League-backed Md Jafar Ali, BNP’s Omar Ali and independent candidate Azizur Rahman are vying for the mayoral post with 27 vying for councillor posts and six for reserved women councillor seats. Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury has ordered to show zero tolerance for any kind of irregularity during the municipality polls. “Additional law enforcers have been deployed in all polling centres,” Rangamati ADC Amir Khasru told the Dhaka Tribune in the morning. Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh members are kept on standby to lend support if required, he added.