Violating electoral rules, ruling Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman yesterday voted for party mayoral candidate Selina Hayat Ivy in public instead of stamping the ballot paper in the polling booth.

Shamim along with a group of his supporters went to Narayanganj Bar Academy polling station around 3:00pm.

After receiving the ballot paper from the polling official, he stamped and showed it to journalists.

Electoral rules stipulate that a voter must stamp the ballot paper in the privacy of a polling booth. Voting publicly is a punishable offence, said Nuruzzaman Talukder, returning officer of the Narayanganj city polls.

"As far as I know, Shamim Osman showed his ballot paper to journalists before casting his vote; not afterwards. Showing a blank ballot paper before casting the vote is not an offence," he told The Daily Star.

Asked about the violation of electoral rules, Shamim said: "You journalists were not finding anything wrong with the polls. So I wanted to make you happy by letting myself bleed."

The AL leader said the city polls presented two challenges for them -- holing the elections in a fair manner and ensuring victory for the party mayoral candidate. He hoped that his party would be able to meet the challenges successfully.

"This year's polls to Narayanganj City Corporation are a testimony to all that elections under Hasina are always fair," he told reporters.

There had been much speculation about whether the controversial lawmaker would vote for Ivy who had beaten him in the last NCC polls.

 Against the backdrop of political rivalry between Shamim and Ivy, AL President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on November 22 had a meeting with Narayanganj AL leaders at the Gono Bhaban. The PM at that meeting instructed party leaders, including Shamim, to work together to ensure victory for the party nominee.

On December 9, Shamim at a press conference in Narayanganj announced his support for Ivy.