Rangpur, Dec 22 (Just News): General HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party (JaPa) mayor candidate Mostafizar Rahman has won Rangpur City Corporation elections beating both Awami League and BNP candidates with a huge margin.
He defeated ruling AL nominated candidate Sarfuddin Ahmed Jhantu by around 100,000 votes.
Mostafizar running with plough symbol bagged 1,60,489 votes while Sarfuddin polled 62,400 votes and BNP candidate Kawsar Jahan Babla got 35,136 votes.
Returning officer of the election Suvash Chandra Sarkar announced Mostafizur Rahman unofficially elected at 12:10am early Friday.
The voting was held from 8:00am to 4:00pm without any break at 193 polling stations in the city corporation with the good turnout of voters.
A total of 3,93,994 voters -- 1,96,356 men and 1,97,638 women -- were supposed to cast votes to elect one mayor, 33 ward councillors and 11 councillors to the reserved seats of women in the election.
The Election Commission termed Rangpur City Corporation polls a 'model election' saying that it was held amid a festive mood.
"The Rangpur City Corporation election was held in a festive mood. We earlier promised to hold a model election there. This has been a model election finally," election commissioner Rafiqul Islam told a post-election briefing at the city's Nirbachan Bhaban on Thursday.
He said though the BNP's allegation is not authentic as per the EC's information gathered from the field, the commission will examine the accusation.
BNP at a press briefing earlier in the day alleged that the administration obstructed voters from going to some polling stations, while polling agents were ousted from some centres during the city corporation election.
Earlier at about 2:30pm, chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda told newsmen that they were happy with the overall election situation in Rangpur.
Trashing BNP's allegation, he said, "We've gleaned information from the local level. Voters didn't come up with any complaint. So, we think the allegation is not authentic,"
Ruling Awami League, however, conceded defeat of its candidate in Rangpur civic polls even before votes of all polling stations are counted to declare the final results.
Seeing the initial trend and presumably based on field-level information, AL general secretary Obaidul Quader made the move of accepting defeat to, however, none but its ally Jatiya Party.
“The Awami League has lost in electoral battle in the Rangpur City Corporation elections but the party has earned a political victory,” he said addressing a press conference at the AL president’s Dhanmondi political office on Thursday evening.
In the maiden election to the city held in 2012, Sarfuddin bagged 106,255 votes while Mostafiz polled 77,835, Jatiya Party-backed AKM Abdur Rouf Manik got 37,208 votes and BNP-backed Babla bagged only 21,235 votes.
However, the 2012 election was held in a non-partisan manner unlike this election.
Instead of ballot papers, the newly designed Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) was used in a polling station -- the Begum Rokeya Government College at ward 25 -- of the election.
(Justnews/ys/1420hr)
