Polling underway in 9 municipalities

Voting in the election to nine municipalities in seven districts began this morning, with over three lakh people expected to exercise their franchise.

The balloting started at 8:00am and will continue till 4:00pm without any break.

The municipalities are Ghorashal and Raipura of Narsingdi, Laxmipur sadar, Kasba of Brahmanbaria, Noakhali and Senbagh of Noakhali, Chhagalnaiya of Feni, Teknaf of Cox's Bazar and Ramgarh of Khagrachhari.

Eight candidates, including a mayoral one, of Teknaf have already been elected unopposed in the election, as per the fact-sheet provided by the Election Commission on Tuesday.

A total of 27 mayoral contestants -- 21 from political parties and six independent ones - are contesting the elections to the nine municipalities.

Besides, 316 candidates against 87 general councillor posts and 70 others for 29 reserved seats are in the election race.

Over three lakh people are expected to exercise their franchise in 133 polling stations during the polls.

Earlier, elections to 234 municipalities, out of the country's 323, were held on December 30, 2015, while in 10 more on March 21, 2016.