Tushar Hayat . Chittagong
The candidates aspiring to be chairmen and vice chairmen in the 14 upazilas of Chittagong district have been conducting, in full swing, their campaigns for the elections scheduled on January 22.
Sources in the election office said there are a total of 304 candidates, including 115 for the post of chairman, 129 for vice chairman and 60 for the vice chairman’s posts reserved for women.
Many of the candidates belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, however, withdrew from electoral race after the party’s disastrous result in the general elections held on December 29.
Jashim Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, senior vice president of the Sitakunda upazila unit of BNP who withdrew his candidature for the chairman’s post, said he had quit because of the apprehension that the election would not be free and fair.
‘The Election Commi-ssion will do every thing to ensure the victory of the party in power, exactly as it did in December’s parliamentary elections,’ he said.
However, Younus Gani Chowdhury, a candidate for the chairman’s post in Hathazari upazila who is also a former president of the district (north) unit of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, said that candidates belonging to the BNP have begun campaigning in different upazilas.
Alamgir Hossain Thakur, a candidate aspiring to be vice chairman in Sandwip upazila who is also the general secretary of the Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal (BNP’s youth front), said he was getting a very positive response from the voters while campaigning in different parts of the locality.
Mohammed Salahuddin, a candidate for the chairman’s post in Fatikchhari upazila who is also the convener of the local BNP unit, said they defeated the AL candidate in the last general elections and the result would be same in the upazila elections.
‘If the administration plays a neutral role, I should be elected with a big margin,’ he added.
Abdullah Al Baker Bhuyan, a candidate who wants to be chairman of Sitakunda upazila and who is also the general secretary of the AL’s upazila unit there, said he was confident that he would be victorious, and claimed that there was no sign of electoral manipulation.
‘The candidates belonging to BNP have been expressing doubts and saying that the elections would not be free and fair as an excuse for their imminent defeat,’ he added.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
