Mymensingh city election Saturday, campaign ends at midnight

All the councilors and mayoral candidates for Mymensingh City Corporation polls passed a busy day today (Thursday, March 7) going from door to door of the voters as it was the last day for campaign before the vote scheduled for Saturday (March 9) next.

The campaign for the election, to be held using electronic voting machine (EVM), is set to end at Thursday midnight. So, on the last day of campaign, the mayoral and councilor candidates went door to door asking for votes one last time.

The Election Commission has completed all the preparations for the election and the district administration and law enforcement are on alert to avoid any untoward incident.

The candidates and their supporters are busy distributing leaflets and shaking hands and chatting with the voters at different wards of the city. Apart from the mayoral and councilor aspirants, councilor aspirants from reserved women’s wards also had a busy day with last-minute campaigning.

The mayoral candidates for the election are recently resigned mayor and president of the metropolitan Awami League Md Ikramul Haque Titu (wall clock symbol), district Awami League president Ehteshamul Alam (horse symbol), former general secretary of the city Awami League Advocate Sadekul Haque Khan Milky (elephant sysmbol), former member of central Krishak League Dr Rezaul Haque (deer symbol) and district Jatiya Party Joint General Secretary Shahidul Islam Swapan Mondal (plough symbol).

Ikramul Haque Titu said, “I am very optimistic about winning as I am determined to make this city a smart city.”

Citing the past development activities when he was the mayor, he claimed that his position is solid for winning the hearts of the voters.

Another mayoral candidate Sadek Khan said that if elected as the mayor, he will try to continue the continuous development of the government and eliminate the existing problems of the city.

District Awami League President Ehteshamul Alam said people want change all around the city. People will reflect their hopes and aspirations through voting.

On Saturday, voting will be held from morning to afternoon in 990 booths of 128 polling stations in 33 wards. Hundred percent voting will be conducted through EVMs in this city election.

In the election, five candidates are contesting for the post of mayor, 148 candidates for the post of councilor, and 69 candidates for the post of reserved women councilor. The total number of voters in the city is 3,36,496. Of them, 1,63,872 are male and 1,72,615 are female voters.

According to the regional election office sources, from Friday morning, all the materials for taking votes will be sent to the center through the presiding officers from the gymnasium adjacent to the circuit house field.

Assistant Returning Officer and Senior District Election Officer of Mymensingh Safiqul Islam said that every centre will have proper security measures to ensure fair and impartial elections. In addition to the striking force, seven platoons of BGB, 11 platoons of police, armed police and Ansar members, 17 teams of RAB, 33 executive magistrates and 11 judicial magistrates will be on duty. A number of four policemen and 12 Ansar members will be on duty in each polling station and five policemen and 12 Ansar members will be on duty in important centres.

Deputy Commissioner of Mymensingh Didar-e-Alam Mohammad Maksud Chowdhury said that no major untoward incident has happened in the campaign work so far. However, following the written complaints of various candidates, immediate action has been taken and some candidates have been fined and warned for violating the code of conduct. The district administration is trying to keep the atmosphere normal on the election day.