Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, the mayoral candidate from the ruling party Awami League, has secured a resounding victory in the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) elections by defeating his closest rival, Nazrul Islam Babul (plough) by an impressive margin of 69,129 votes.
The recent triumph of Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury in the Sylhet City Corporation mayoral election carries profound political implications for Sylhet. Backed by the ruling party Awami League, Anwaruzzaman’s overwhelming victory with a staggering 1,19,991 votes not only showcases his popularity but also reinforces the party’s dominance in Sylhet’s political landscape.
Anwaruzzaman wins an outstanding victory with more than double votes!
Wednesday evening, Returning Officer and Sylhet’s Regional Election Officer, Faysal Kader announced the preliminary results at around 9.30 pm.
Awami League-backed mayoral candidate Anwaruzzaman has been elected mayor of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) with 1,19,991 votes, while his nearest contender Jatiya Party’s Nazrul Islam got 50,862 votes.
Islami Andolon Bangladesh candidate Mahmudul Hasan got 12,794 votes, Zaker party candidate Jahirul Alam got 3,405 votes, independent candidates Mostaque Ahmed Rouf Mostafa got 2,959 votes, Abdul Hanif Kutu got 4,296 votes, Salah Uddin Rimon got 2648 votes and Shah Jahan Miah got 29,688 votes
Six candidates were vying for the the post of mayor in the SCC elections. The mayoral candidates were – Awami League’s Md Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury (boat), Jatiya Party’s Nazrul Islam Babul (plough), Zaker Party’s Md Zahirul Alam (rose flower) and independent candidates Md shahjahan Mia (bus), Mohammad Abdul Hanif Kutu (horse), and Md Shalah Uddin Rimon (cricket bat).
Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s candidate, Mahmudul Hasan had withdrawn his candidature from the SCC polls a few days ago.
Additionally, there were 273 candidates for the post of general councilor in 42 wards and 42 women vying for reserved councilor positions.
Voter turnout
The participation rate in SCC election was 46.71%. The total number of voters in the SCC is 487,753, of whom 233,387 are women. Voters started exercising their franchise at 8am through electronic voting machines (EVMs) at 190 centers with the voting scheduled to continue till 4pm.
In the SCC polls, 63.36 per cent of votes were cast in 2018, while 61.67 per cent exercised their franchise in 2013.
Ensuring fair voting process with strict security
A total of 1,747 CCTV cameras were stationed inside and outside of the 1,367 polling stations in Sylhet.
Returning officer, Faisal Kader, had said on Sunday: “Five tiers of security measures have been taken to hold the election in a free, fair and credible manner.”
Earlier on Sunday, the EC marked 132 out of 190 centers as risky (important) in the city, where special arrangements were taken by the authorities to ensure fair election. There were two CC cameras outside of risky polling station which monitored from the EC head office in Dhaka by the election commissioners Brig Gen (retd) Md Ahsan Habib Khan, Md Alamgir and Rashida Sultana.
According to the list prepared by Sylhet Metropolitan Police, all the polling stations in wards 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 38, 39 and 42 (total 18) had been marked as risky. In addition, one or more centers in some wards had been identified as risky. However, the only exception was the newly formed Ward No 41, as all the centers there were risk-free or general.
These centers were also deployed with additional law- enforcers to ensure security at the centers. Returning Officer Faisal Kader had confirmed the matter to the media, saying 10 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) would be deployed in the polls area from Tuesday. Moreover, 14 judicial and 42 executive magistrates were on the ground to ensure security in the area for five days before and after the election. Six police officers and constables were on duty at the risky centers while five were deployed at each general centers. Additionally, 12 Ansar members were deployed at each center. On the other hand, 22 mobile teams of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and 14 special striking forces were on alert.
With a substantial margin of votes and a clear mandate, Anwaruzzaman now faces the responsibility of fulfilling the aspirations of the electorate and steering the city towards progress.
