Councillor races to be close in Sylhet
The battle for Sylhet city mayor in all likelihood will be "one-sided" today but the races of councillors will be tight, said voters of the city.
Awami League mayor nominee Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury is relieved as major opposition BNP boycotted the polls and the candidate of Islami Andolon Bangladesh quit the race on June 13 after its mayor contender in the Barishal city polls came under attack on June 12.
Anwaruzzaman is only to face Jatiya Party candidate Nazrul Islam Babul.
Besides, there is a huge difference between the two mayor aspirants in terms of the organisational strength of their parties.
The ruling AL has deployed its full strength to get back the Sylhet City Corporation mayor post, which a BNP man has occupied for the last 10 years.
Eight candidates are running, but the main battle will be between Anwaruzzaman and Nazrul, said locals.
However, participation of leaders of the BNP and its associate bodies in all 42 wards, Jamaat contenders in at least 20 wards and more than one AL candidates in several wards has made the polls to councillor posts competitive.
"The outcome of the mayoral race is clear. The real contest will be among the councillor aspirants," Imran Hossain, a tea stall owner in Tilagarh area, told The Daily Star.
A significant number of the councillor candidates are either leaders or activists of BNP and its associate bodies.
The BNP suspended 43 of its leaders for joining the polls ignoring the party decision to boycott the election. Around 50 more BNP men are also in the councillor race.
In ward-5, four BNP men -- Kamal Miah, former convener of the ward unit BNP, members of the unit Khaled Akbar Chowdhury, Aminur Rahman Khokan and BNP activist Shahed Siraj-- are running.
There is a similar situation in ward-30 where four BNP activists are running.
In ward-31, -32 and -33, two BNP men are running.
Beside the contest among BNP men, races between AL men are also hot.
For instance, in ward-39, suspended president of Chhatra Dal's Sylhet district unit Altaf Hossain Sumon is competing against three AL leaders -- Rezaul Rahman Mostafa, Shahab Uddin Lal, and AL Amir Uddin, organising secretary of Sadar upazila unit.
Three AL men are vying in ward-20. They are Sylhet city unit AL Joint General Secretary and incumbent councillor Azadur Rahman Azad, Swechchhasebak League leaders Mithu Talukder and Shubhra Chakraborty.
Talking to this newspaper, Abdul Quiyum Chowdhury, president of Sylhet district BNP, said, "We have been closely monitoring so that no BNP supporters can work in favour of the expelled BNP leaders. We also asked them not to go to polling centres and we are expecting they will follow the instruction."
"In the absence of the BNP, it has become a one-sided mayoral race, which may also impact the voter turnout. On the other hand, candidates of different parties in councillor races have made voters interested," said Shah Shaheda Akhter, general secretary of Sylhet chapter's Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan), a civil society platform for good governance.
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