All eyes on Narayanganj
With archrivals the Awami League and the BNP going head to head, the country's attention today would be on Narayanganj city, which goes to polls to elect its mayor and 36 councillors.
When compared to national polls, which involves around 10 crore voters, the Narayanganj City Corporation polls is tiny, with just about 4.74 lakh voters.
Yet, it has generated a lot of hoopla in national politics as ruling Awami League and the BNP are trying to get their person elected as mayor.
Peaceful and clean electioneering of the two main mayor candidates raised hopes for a good election today. The campaigns were free from mudslinging as well.
If the polls atmosphere remains agreeable the whole day, Narayanganj City Corporation polls may become the best election held in the last three years. If so, this may be a solace for the Election Commission which is at the end of its tenure.
The EC has received widespread criticism for its failure to hold free and fair elections since the January 5, 2014 one-sided parliamentary election which witnessed an unprecedented 153 of 300 MPs elected uncontested.
Widespread electoral anomalies dominated the subsequent elections to different local government bodies.
Even though there was no violence during campaigning in Narayanganj, many city dwellers fear untoward incidents may spoil their election day.
Tight security measures were put in place by the administration to ensure a peaceful atmosphere for the polls, being held on partisan line.
"We have taken extra security measures to maintain the peaceful atmosphere. There is no possibility of any untoward incident," the returning officer of the polls, Nuruzzaman Talukder, claimed yesterday.
Like the last few days, Narayanganj, the small city 16km from the capital, may have a foggy and mildly cold morning today, when voters start queuing up at polling stations. Just like the previous days, sunshine is expected to remove the fog a few hours after the polling begins.
“So far, there has been no violence centring the elections. If law enforcers and the administration work properly, concern over the voting atmosphere on election day would be eliminated,” Shahadat Hossain, a student of Tolaram College in Narayanganj, told The Daily Star.
Lutfunnahar, an NGO worker in sadar area, said, “We will observe the voting atmosphere in the morning … if we find it congenial, we will certainly cast our votes. The atmosphere is good so far.”
The focus, however, will be on the mayoral race.
Ruling AL's mayor candidate Selina Hayat Ivy's main challenger is the BNP's Shakhawat Hossain Khan.
None of the other five mayor aspirants are expected be a threat to either of them.
Ivy won the first polls in 2011 defeating the then ruling AL-backed candidate Shamim Osman with a margin of more than one lakh votes. Her party had not extended support to her in that election.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. This time, Ivy was able to get the AL's ticket, stopping controversial AL MP Shamim Osman's attempt to deny her the party nomination.
Shamim and local AL leaders had manipulated local unit of AL not to include Ivy's name in the list of three placed before the AL high command to choose.
The three AL leaders in the list were all pro-Shamim Osman.
But the AL high command chose Ivy disregarding the grassroots' list.
Shamim still remains the centre of discussion in Narayanganj and there is a lot of speculation as to what he and his men might or might not do today to influence the polls.
Political analysts said Ivy's clean image, popularity, and development activities she carried out in her first term might benefit her in the polls today.
BNP's Shakhawat came into the limelight by leading a street protest against the seven murders in Narayanganj. A lawyer by profession, he is also the counsel for a victim's family. He has never been elected to any public office.
During the campaign, he tried to woo voters by using national issues alongside his promises for local development.
His campaign talked about issues like the 2014 one-sided parliamentary elections and the controversial polls to some local government bodies.
The records offer hope for Sakhawat. If national issues dominate the Narayanganj city polls, he may get an edge. In the past, voters in most cases disappointed the ruling party in free and fair elections.
The AL-backed mayor candidates were beaten in Chittagong City Corporation in 2010 and in Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet and Gazipur city corporations in 2013.
During the BNP-led alliance rule, elections to Dhaka and Chittagong city corporations in 1994 and polls to Chittagong City Corporation in 2005 were largely free and fair.
In those races, the BNP-backed mayor candidates faced humiliating defeats to their opponents supported by then opposition AL.
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