Marking the ‘Election Day’ for two of the biggest associations of the entertainment industry in the country, television artists’ organization Actors Equity Bangladesh also held its third election on Friday at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital.

The day-long voting closed at 5:30 pm at the National Music, Dance and Recitation Centre of BSA, which will determine the 21-member executive body for the term between 2022 and 2025.

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Since 9:30 am, the voting began at the academy maintaining strict security and COVID-19 protocol to avoid trespassing, although the protocol was lighter in comparison to the Film Artistes Association election which began on Friday at 9 am at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) premises.

A total of 48 candidates are contested for 21 posts in this year’s election, with the immediate-past General Secretary Ahsan Habib Nasim and actor Sahadat Hossain Nipu standing against each other as the two presidential candidates.

Five candidates - Anisur Rahman Milon, Tania Ahmed, Tania Ahmed, Dilu Majumdar and Selim Mahbub, are contesting for the three posts of vice-president while two candidates Alamgir Kabir Tutul and MM Kamrul Hasan Rawnak are contesting for the position of General Secretary.

Naznin Hasan Chumki, Md Jamil Hossain and Shamima Islam Tusti are the three candidates for two Joint General Secretary positions, while three candidates - Gias Uddin Tushar, Julfikar Uddin Khan Chanchal and Shazu Khadem, are contesting for the post of Organizing Secretary. 

Other notable actors including Urmila Srabanti Kar, Pran Roy, Mahadi Hasan Pial, Sujat Shimul, Mousumi Hamid, Shams Sumon, Shyamol Zakaria, Sangeeta Chowdhury and others are contesting in the election for several other positions in the election.

A total of 752 voters cast their votes for this election, which is much higher than the 428 voters in the Film Artistes Association election.

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Veteran thespian Khairul Alam Shabuj is the Chief Election Commissioner for the election, while Masum Aziz and Naresh Bhuiyan are the election commissioners.

Actors Equity held its first election in 2017. The Immediate-past panel from 2019-2022 featured renowned actor Shahiduzzaman Selim as its President, while Ahsan Habib Nasim was elected as the General Secretary.

The result will be announced after 8 pm.