Security deposits by five contenders of the Gazipur City Corporation mayoral race were to be seized in line with the electoral codes as they failed to obtain the required one-eighth share of the total vote casted for reimbursement.
Returning officer for the GCC polls Motiar Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are running the process to seize the amount. It takes some time and will be done in line with the electoral process.”
The electoral code required mayoral contenders to deposit Tk50,000 for poll areas which housed 1m to 2m voters. Gazipur had a total of 1,026,939 registered voters of whom 63.39% cast their votes.
The mayor elect, MA Mannan, got a total of 365,444 votes at the 392 centres while his nearest candidate, former Tongi mayor Azmat Ullah Khan, secured 258,867 endorsements. Another 18,046 ballots were rejected due to voting errors.
As a result the other contenders – Dr Nazim Uddin who secured 4,640 votes, Jahangir Alam with his 3,119 votes, Mejbah Uddin Sarker Rubel with his 1,677 votes, Aman Ullah with 1,255 votes and the only female mayoral contender, Rina Sultana, who got 1,046 votes – failed to secure the one-eighth share required for reimbursement.
On July 06, a total of 654,094 people cast their votes in between 8am and 4pm in 392 voting centres across the 330-square kilometre city corporation, which comprises of two municipalities – Gazipur Sadar and Tongi.
