Noman Mosharef and Muhid Hasan :
The last update of Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) polls shows that the Independent mayoral candidate Zayeda Khatun, also the mother of former mayor Md Jahangir Alam, gets the lead from her nearest rival, Awami League-backed candidate Azmat Ullah Khan.
According to the latest result from the polling stations till filing the report at 11.00pm on Thursday, votes of about 140 centres were counted where Independent mayoral candidate Zayeda Khatun (table clock symbol) bagged 69,078 while Azmat Ullah Khan (Boat symbol) secured 65,023.
The returning officer of the elections Md Faridul Islam announced the result at Bongotaj Auditorium in Gazipur Zilla Parishad Bhabon.
On the other hand, the Election Commission (EC) has expressed satisfaction as the GCC polls was ended without any untoward incident.
Moreover, Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said the voters’ turnout in the Gazipur City Corporation polls might be 50 per cent.
The election commissioner made these remarks while speaking to reporters at the Agargaon election building on Thursday. He mentioned that complete information regarding the turnout of all polling stations is not yet available, but it is expected that the turnout will be around 50 per cent.
Addressing the fairness of the election, Md Alamgir stated that based on the information gathered from law enforcement agencies, election commission officials, the media, and election observers, it can be concluded that the Gazipur city election was conducted in a remarkably smooth and peaceful manner.
He further noted that all the candidates who participated in the election expressed their satisfaction over the electoral process and declared their willingness to accept the results, irrespective of the outcome.
Responding to concerns about the slow pace of voting, he explained, “According to election regulations, if voters are present at the polling station until the voting deadline, polling agents are required to wait until the last vote is cast. These rules apply to both paper ballots and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).”
When asked if any irregularities were captured on CCTV, he said, “We detected certain issues such as long queues that gave certain individuals an advantage to cast their votes fast. Immediate action was taken by contacting the relevant authorities over the phone.”
Furthermore, he disclosed that at two centers, agents attempted to influence voters, prompting us to intervene by notifying the police and ensuring their removal from the premises. In addition, he emphasized that neither the Election Commission nor the police got any other reports of irregularities.
A total of 4,500 CCTVs were deployed to monitor the voting process in Gazipur City Corporation.
He explained, “Due to the sheer number of CCTVs, it was not feasible to monitor all of them simultaneously. Instead, we monitored approximately 300-400 CCTVs in stages. Consequently, some events may have gone unnoticed.”
He regarded the implementation of CCTVs as a successful initiative by the Election Commission.
Earlier, EC Md Alamgir, EC Rasheda Sultana and EC Ahsan Habib started monitoring the polls on CCTV cameras at 8am in the morning from the control room of the Election Commission. Later, EC Anisur Rahman joined them around 9am. CEC came after 9.30am.
AL backed mayoral candidate Azmat Ullah Khan on Thursday (25 May) cast his ballot in the GCC Election saying he will accept whatever the result is.
“I always respect the people’s opinion and whoever gets elected today (Thursday), I will accept the results,” he said while talking to reporters after casting his vote at Tongi Darus Salam Madrasha Centre at around 9am.
