When good work pays off 

Rewarding him for his good work during the ongoing Covid pandemic, people have reelected Maqsoodul Alam Khondaker Khorshed as councillor for ward 13 of Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) a fourth time.

At the beginning of the pandemic, people of the country started living inside their homes and panic-stricken people did not even dare to meet anyone. If someone died, there was no one to complete the burial process. Even near and dear ones of the deceased would stay away. 

At that time, councillor Maqsoodul came forward taking up the responsibility on his own shoulders. He would do all the work including bathing and burying the body. Under his leadership, an activist team of his worked tirelessly day and night to perform  burial formalities for pandemic victims.

Not only this, he also helped the people as much as he could on his own initiative and became the Covid hero of Narayanganj. Now people of his area have paid back for the good work he did for them.

After winning his first municipal elections in 2003, the popular leader also won the city corporation elections of 2011 and 2016. He gained this popularity with his good deeds.

Although Councilor Maksudul Alam is involved in BNP politics, no one has been able to defeat him. He is the younger brother of Taimur Alam Khandaker, the independent candidate who lost the mayoral election.

Apart from Maksudul Alam, eight councillors involved in BNP politics have been elected in the just-ended NCC elections.

Earlier, in the 2016 NCC elections, 12 BNP and 11 Awami League (AL) candidates were elected councilors.

This time, 15 Awami League candidates have won ward councilor posts, out of the 27 wards of NCC. Two candidates from the Jatiya Party (JP) and one from the Bangladesh Somajtantrik Dal have also been elected.

Of the 27 councilors, 12 have been elected for the first time, while 13 are accused in various cases including murder, narcotics, and arms.

Nine reserved women councilors have been elected in the NCC polls. Of them, eight have been reelected.

The elected councilors

The newly elected 27 councillors of NCC are: Anwar Hossain of the AL in ward-1; Md Iqbal Hossain (reelected) of the BNP in ward-2; Shahjalal Badal (reelected) of the AL in ward-3; Nur Uddin of the AL in ward-4; Golam Muhammad Sadril (reelected) of the BNP in ward-5; Matiur Rahman (reelected) of the AL in ward-6; Mizanur Rahman Ripon of the AL in ward-7; Ruhul Amin Mollah (reelected) of the AL in ward-8; Israfil Pradhan (reelected) who joined the AL from the BNP in ward-9; Iftekhar Alam Khokon (reelected) of the AL in ward-10; Ahidul Islam Chakku of the BNP in ward-11; Shawkat Hashem Shaku (reelected) in ward-12; Maksudul Alam Khandaker (reelected) of the BNP in ward-13; Moniruzzaman Monir of the AL in ward-14; Asit Baran Biswas of the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal in ward-15; Riyadh Hasan of the AL in ward-16; MD Abdul Karim Babu (reelected) of the AL in ward-17; Kamrul Hasan Munna of the AL in ward-18; Mokhlesur Rahman Chowdhury of the JP in ward-19; Mohammad Shahenshah of the BNP in ward-20; independent candidate Shahin Mia in ward-21; Sultan Ahmed Bhuiyan of the BNP in ward-22; Abul Kawsar Asha of the BNP in ward-23; Afzal Hossain (reelected) of the JP in ward-24; Enayet Hossain (reelected) of the BNP in ward-25; Md Samsujjoha (reelected) of the BNP in ward-26; and Sirajul Islam of the AL in ward-27.

The nine elected reserved women councilors are: Maksuda Mozaffar in ward-1, 2 and 3; Monowara Begum in ward-4, 5 and 6; Ayesha Akter Dina in ward-7, 8 and 9; Minowara Begum in ward-10,11 and 12; Sharmin Habib Binni in ward-13, 14 and 15; Afsana Afroz Biva in ward-16, 17 and 18; Sheuly Nowshad in ward 19, 20 and 21; Shaon Ankon in ward-22, 23 and 24; and Saniya Akter in ward-25, 26 and 27.

Among them, Saniya Akter has become a councilor for the first time while the rest have been reelected.