Sayeed Muhammad: The Awami League and BNP candidates in the Sylhet City Corporation mayoral race have expressed their satisfaction with the environment of the re-election to two centres yesterday, where the polls were suspended.
BNP-backed aspirant Ariful Haque Chowdhury visited the Ward-24 Gazi Burhan Uddin Garam Dewan Government Primary School polling centre at 12noon, reports BDnews.
The people will not allow the election to be snatched away from them and have already proven that they will not allow any plots to succeed in Sylhet, he said.
“I am leading the race. I am hopeful that voters will pick me today as well.”
Voting is going well and the environment is good, he said then, adding that if this environment was present on Jul 30, there would have been no need for a re-vote.
Two polling centres in Sylhet had been suspended after they were occupied by party activists and had ballot boxes snatched, causing the mayoral election to be held again at the two polling centres.
Ariful was already ahead of his Awami League rival Bodor Uddin Ahmed Kamran and the lead held by the BNP candidate was less than the total number of voters at the two polling centres.
Meanwhile, the Awami League candidate has said that he will accept the result of the vote, regardless of the outcome.
He went to inspect the Gazi Borhan Uddin primary school centre at 11am.
The Election Commission had been successful in ensuring an extremely good and peaceful polling environment, he said.
“There have been no irregularities. No clashes. The voters have been able to deliver their verdict in peace. For this I thank the Election Commission.
Ariful was leading his Awami League counterpart by 4,626 votes, according to the unofficial results of 132 out of 134 centres.
The total number of registered voters at the two polling centres is 4,787.