Candidates except Khaleque cast doubt on fairness in Khulna polls today

All other mayoral candidates, except the ruling Awami League-nominated Talukder Abdul Khaleque, have raised doubts over whether the Khulna city election today will be held fairly, despite the assurances from the Election Commission (EC) and the administration. 

Five mayoral candidates and 175 councillor candidates are battling for their desired posts this time, with the BNP remaining absent, as the voting begins at 8am across 289 centres in 31 wards in the city. 

Expressing concerns over fair polling, Jatiya Party-nominated mayoral candidate Shafiqul Islam Madhu said, "There will be no fair elections under this government. There is no democracy and right to vote in this country".

He also sought cooperation from the administration, raising allegations his rival "boat" candidate Khaleque used black money to influence the polls.

The JaPa candidate further questioned the efficiency of the Election Commission, saying that the commission would not be able to conduct a fair poll, even if it had that willingness.   

Madhu also raised allegations of lack of level playing field and voter intimidation. 

"The election will not be fair. Voters are being intimidated. If the voters do not go to the polling centres, the voting percentage will decrease," he said. 

Echoing the same sentiment, Islami Andolan Bangladesh-nominated candidate Md Abdul Awal, who is vying for the mayoral post with the symbol of "hand fan", said, "Various irregularities took place in the 2018 Khulna City Corporation election. It is still not possible to say whether this year's polls witness the same".

Alleging that the ruling party has had an influence since the beginning of the polls, Zaker Party-nominated candidate SM Sabbir Hossain said he is fearing whether they [ruling party] can exert their influence even on the polling day.

However, independent candidate SM Shafiqur Rahman observed that the polling environment was healthy as of yesterday. But he expressed doubts over the role of the ruling party on the election day, saying "If they use coercion and threats, the people of Khulna will not accept it. The people will take to the streets and protest, and that will be the movement to topple the government."

Awami League-nominated candidate Khaleque said, "I do not see any deficiency in the preparation of law-and-order forces to make the elections fair. So, there is no doubt that the election will be impartial".

Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) Commissioner Md Masudur Rahman Bhuiyan warned that no party would be able to exert influence in the election. 

"Multi-tier security measures have been taken to ensure fair voting," he said.

Meanwhile, law enforcement teams comprised of RAB, BGB, police and ansar have been deployed in the city to ensure foolproof security in the election.

Tight race likely for councillor posts

A total of 136 candidates are contesting for the post of councillors in 31 general wards and 39 candidates for the post of women councillors in 10 reserved wards.

After observing that no BNP candidate was contesting the polls, the ruling Awami League allowed more than one candidate from the party to compete in the same ward for councillor posts, which is expected to result in a hard battle. 

There is more than one Awami League-supported councillor candidate in 26 out of the general 31 wards, and 9 wards for reserved seats.

Kudrat-e-Khuda, president of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik's (Shujan) Khulna chapter, said that there will be tough competition for the posts of councillors as there are many candidates of the same party for the same post.

EC vows to announce results at earliest

The Election Commission (EC) is determined to declare the polls result without any delay, after the counting, unlike the recently-held Gazipur city polls.

"All preparations have been made for the election. Hopefully, it will be held in a festive atmosphere. The Election Commission and law enforcement agencies are working to ensure that the voters cast their votes in a peaceful manner," said Returning Officer Md Alauddin.

According to the returning officer's office, 289 presiding officers, 1,732 assistant presiding officers and 3,464 polling officers will be on poll duty.

As many as 5,35,529 voters are expected to cast their votes through EVMs at a total of 1,732 polling booths in 289 polling centres under CCTV monitoring.