The skyline over Khulna City Corporation (KCC) is nearly covered in posters, placards and banners. Alongside the formal campaign, the mayoral and councillor candidates are using posters and banners every which way to try and woo city dwellers for their support.
The early monsoon that hit the country this year dealt considerable damage to the large numbers of banners and posters hung by the mayoral candidates on the streets of Khulna City. This prompted the campaign runners to replace the damaged posters almost every day since May 28, the day the campaigns were formally launched, stretching the overall expenditures of the campaigns to exceed the permitted amount of Tk1m, the number stated by the Election Commission (EC) rules.
Inquiring with owners of several printing presses operating within the city it was deduced that the three mayoral candidates have spent more than twice the amount of the total expenditure only for printing posters, handbills and banners. On some instances, laminated posters were also spotted on several of the city’s roads and streets, which are costlier.
Three mayoral candidates –combined 14-party backed Talukder Abdul Khaleque, the BNP-led 18-party supported Moniruzzaman Moni and the Jatiya Party-backed Shafiqul Islam Madhu – are contesting the polls, but the candidates expected to reach the penultimate stages of the election are Khaleque and Moni.
People associated with both the camps said they were issued 200 posters on a regular basis to replace the rain-soaked ones from the day before. According to owners of the printing presses, each poster costs about Tk2 while handbills cost Tk0.70.
Press sources claim that since May 27, each candidate has printed nearly 10 lakh posters and 2.3m handbills, the total cost of which, for each candidate, is Tk3.4m, more than twice than that of their total expenditure.
