Candidature of the rebels for different Ward Councillor posts in elections to the two city corporations-- Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), is posing as one of the main challenges for both the ruling Awami League, and the BNP.
According to sources, around 250 rebel candidates are taking part in the elections from both Awami League and BNP.
Meanwhile, four Ward Councillors have already been elected unopposed from the DSCC. Sources in both parties said, although many of the rebels from both Awami League and BNP have already withdrawn their candidatures, many others still remain as candidates.
The sources said, there are around 200 rebel candidates from the Awami League and 50 from the BNP. Among the rebels from Awami League, at least 35 are incumbent Ward Councillors. According to sources, a total of 125 rebel candidates for the general Ward Councillor posts in the DSCC have withdrawn their candidature and 20 rebel women from the women’s reserved seats. Now the number of candidates for the 73 general Ward Councillor posts in the DSCC is 335 and the number of candidates in the 22 reserved seats is 82.
Two candidates of the two general Wards and two other candidates from two reserved seats of the DSCC have been elected unopposed.
Those who have been elected unopposed are general Ward-25 Councillor Md Anwar Iqbal, general Ward-43 Councillor Md Arif Hossain, also the incumbent Ward Councillor, Nargis Mahtab (reserved seat-6 comprising general wards-16-17-18) and Nilufar Rahman (reserved seat-8 comprising 22-23-26). All those four candidates are nominated by the Awami League.
Besides, a total of 111 rebel candidates in the 54 general Ward Councillor posts have withdrawn their candidatures and 12 women rebels from the 18 reserved seats. Now the number of general Ward Councillor candidates in DNCC is 251 and the number of women in 18 reserved seats is 77.
Besides, a total of 13 valid candidates are contesting for the two Mayoral posts while 745 valid others for the Ward Councillor posts.
Seven valid candidates in the DSCC Mayoral election are Fazle Nur Taposh of Awami League, Ishraque Hossain of BNP, Mohammad Saifuddin Ahmed Milon of Jatiya Party, Md Abdur Rahman of Islami Andolan, Bahran-e-Sultan Bahar of NPP, Md Akteruzzaman alias Ayatullah of Bangladesh Congress and Abdus Samad Sujon of Gono Front.
Besides, six DNCC Mayoral candidates are incumbent DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam of Awami League, Tabith Awal of BNP, Sajedul Huq of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Shahin Khan of PDP, Fazle Bari Masud of Islami Andolan and Anisur Rahman Dewan of NPP.
According to the EC, there are around 54 lakh voters in two city corporations. Of them, 30.36 lakh under 54 wards in DNCC and 23.67 lakh under 75 wards in DSCC. In the upcoming elections, the number of possible polling stations will be 2,500 in the two cities.
