Sylhet Representative/

CSIC elections were completed without any untoward incident. 47 percent of votes were cast in it. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal informed this information.

Voting in Sylhet took place from 8 am to 4:30 pm on Wednesday (June 21) without any untoward incident.

Awami League boat symbol candidate Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury won this election.

Polling started in Sylhet through Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) from 8 am. Voters stood in line from 7 am before polling started. A kind of curiosity about voting in EVM works among young voters. Male and female voters started voting with great enthusiasm. In almost every center, women voters had longer queues than men. There was great enthusiasm among them.

There were a total of 190 polling stations in this CSIC election. Out of these, 132 centers have been identified as ‘critical’ (risky) by law enforcement agencies.

CSIC elections were held with a total of 42 wards, including the extended area. The total number of voters is 4 lakh 87 thousand 747 people. Among them 2 lakh 54 thousand 363 male voters and 2 lakh 33 thousand 384 female voters.

A total of 7 candidates including candidates from three political parties – Awami League, Jatiya Party and Zaker Party – contested for the mayoral post in this year’s CSIC elections. There were 8 candidates. However, on the day of the Barisal City election, the mayoral candidate of the Islamic movement, Hafiz Maulana Mahmudul Hasan, withdrew from the polls.

Bangladesh Awami League nominated candidate Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury for the post of mayor in boat symbol, Jatiya Party nominated candidate Nazrul Islam Babul in plow symbol, independent candidate respectively. Abdul Hanif Kutu horse symbol, Md. Chalah Uddin Rimon cricket bat symbol, Md. Shahjahan Mia is contesting on Bus symbol and Mushtaq Ahmed Rauf Mustafa on Deer symbol and Zaker Party candidate Zahirul Islam is contesting on Rose symbol.

Alleging irregularities in the Barisal City Corporation elections, the mayoral candidate of the Islamic Movement, Sisik, has announced boycotting the elections.

42 Executive and 14 Judicial Magistrates were present in the field to conduct the election in a free, fair and impartial environment. About 7000 members of law and order forces including 10 platoon BGB, RAB, police and Ansar were deployed in the field. More than 4,500 polling officers performed duties including 190 presiding officers.

The voting equipment started being sent to the centers from the previous Tuesday morning. The election commission completed all the preparations in the evening.

From Agargaon Election Commission (EC) of the capital, all the polling stations of the EC CSIC elections, including the Chief Election Commissioner, are monitored with closed circuit cameras.

BGB started patrolling across the metropolis from Tuesday morning. 10 Platoon BGB members were currently in the field. There were also a large number of RAB members. A total of 2,600 policemen were deployed in and outside the polling stations. There are about 3 thousand Ansar members. In all, about 7 thousand members of the law and order forces were in the election field.

A total of 17 members of the law enforcement force including one SI, one ASI and five constables and a total of 12 Ansars including one PC, one assistant PC, 7 male and 5 female Ansars are on duty in the vulnerable polling station. And in the general polling station there were a total of 16 members of law enforcement including one SI, one ASI, four constables including 6 policemen, one PC, one assistant PC, 7 male and 5 female Ansars including 12 Ansars.

According to related sources, 1,272 policemen and 2,280 Ansar members, totaling 3,552 armed members of law and order forces were deployed in 190 polling stations. There were also members of the police APBN.

There was a special security zone outside the polling station. 42 mobile teams are deployed in a total of 42 police wards, one in each general ward of CSIC. There were 14 special striking forces of the police for every three general wards. There were 22 RAB mobile teams for 42 wards. There were 42 executive magistrates, one in each ward for a total of 42 wards.

Also, 14 Judicial Magistrates of the Judiciary Department aimed to take into account electoral crimes and complete their trials in a short manner. These 14 judicial magistrates are working in the field since last Monday. They will be in the field for 5 consecutive days i.e. till tomorrow Thursday (June 22) to keep the law and order situation under control.

Note that Sylhet municipality was established in 1878 during the British rule. Sylhet City Corporation was established on July 28, 2002, 124 years after the establishment of the municipality. The last CSIC 4th election was held on July 30, 2018. In that election, BNP candidate Ariful Haque Chowdhury defeated Awami League candidate Badr Uddin Ahmad Kamran and was elected mayor for the second time.

The second CSIC election was held in 2008 during the caretaker government of 1-Eleven. Kamran was arrested before that election. Awami League supports Kamran in jail for the post of mayor. Imprisoned Kamran emerged victorious defeating AFM Kamal by a margin of over 100,000 votes in the pineapple symbol.

In 2003, Kamran also won the first election of CSIC on the bicycle symbol. BNP’s MA Haque was defeated by Kamran on the fish ticket.

CSIC was extended in 2021 after almost 19 years of its establishment. At present, the total area of CCIC is 79.50 square kilometers. 15 new general wards and 5 reserved wards have been increased. The current mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury abstained from this fifth election of CSIC on the party decision of BNP. On that occasion, A-League candidate Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury became the mayor in the CSIC election.