The upcoming Dhaka North and South City Corporation polls and Saraswati Puja will be held at the same time but they will not be in conflict with each other, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. “We have fixed the polls date of Dhaka North and South city corporations considering all the aspects. There would be no conflict or clash between the elections and Saraswati Puja,” EC secretary Md Alamgir told reporters after the High Court rejected the writ petition to defer the polls date, at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.
Meanwhile, the HC on Tuesday rejected the writ petition for deferment of the polls date of Dhaka North and South City Corporations as Saraswati Puja will be observed on the same day. The secretary said leaders of the Hindu community urged to defer the polls date. The commission has explained to them about fixing the date, he said, while adding that the court has rejected their appeal and ordered the EC to hold the polls on January 30.
When asked about whether any untoward situation can occur in holding polls and puja, Alamgir said, “I think that there will not be any untoward situation during the polls and puja. Hindu community is to obey the court directives, he added. The EC has setup separate place for elections and puja at the same educational institutions. So there will be no problem, the secretary added.
Earlier, on January 6, lawyer Ashoke Kumar Ghosh submitted the petition urging the court to issue its directive on the Election Commission to defer the poll date for the city corporations as Saraswati Puja will be held on January 30.