Several supporters of mayoral candidates backed by Awami League (AL) and Islami Andolon Bangladesh were injured in a clash over entering a polling centre, as Barishal City Corporation election is underway today (June 12, 2023). Islami Andolon candidate Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim, who is contesting the election with the ‘hand fan’ symbol, alleged that several of his supporters as well as he were injured in an attack by AL men when they were about to enter the Kawnia Secondary Girls School centre. He said voters and his agents were forced to leave the Kawnia centre and Manik Miah centre. “Activists of the AL mayoral candidate barred me from entering the Kawnia centre when I tried to lodge a complaint with the presiding officer,” the Islami Andolon candidate told UNB Barishal correspondent. “I, along with several of my supporters, was injured in the attack,” he said. Read: Barishal city polls: Voters being barred from coming to polling stations, say 2 mayoral candidates Denying the allegation made by the Islami Andolon candidate and supporters, AL activist Biddyut said they only told them that they "should not enter the polling centre with such a big crowd." “Rather they (Islami Andolon activists) carried out an attack on us with knives, leaving several men injured,” he said.

Jatiya Party-backed mayoral candidate Md Mostafizur Rahman Mostafa on Tuesday unofficially won the high-voltage Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) election for the second consecutive time. Mostafa bagged 1, 46,798 votes while his nearest contestant Amiruzzaman from Islami Andolon Bangladesh polled 49,892 votes. His lead over the ruling Awami League’s candidate Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia was a huge margin of 1, 24,492 votes. Independent candidate (AL’s rebel candidate) Latifur Rahman bagged 33,883 votes by securing third position in the race while the AL-backed candidate in the 4th spot. Returning officer Abdul Baten announced the results from district’s Shilpakala Academy around 12.15am when the vote counting completed. Out of the 9 mayoral candidates, Mostafa contested the election with the "Plough" symbol while Amiruzzaman from Islami Andolon Bangladesh with “Hat Pakha” symbol. Rangpur is known as a stronghold of the Jatiya Party as the party’s founder late HM Ershad hailed from the district.   The returning officer said over 2, 79,000 out of 426,470 exercised their franchises in the RCC elections with 65.8 percent turnover. Starting the RCC voting at 8.00am using electronic voting machines (EVMs) at 229 centers continued till around 8.30pm, with the scheduling to be ended at 4.00pm. Nine candidates vied for the mayoral post while 183 people contested for councillor posts under 33 wards. 68 candidates fought the polls for 11 reserved seats. Read more: Election violence under present EC drops to zero: CEC The other mayoral candidates are Abu Raihan from Bangladesh Congress, Touhidur Rahman Mandal from Khelafat Majlish, Shafier Rahman from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Khorshed Alam from Zaker Party and Mehedi Hasan as independent candidate. After the landslide victory, Mostafizur in an instant reaction said it is not his victory, rather the credit goes to the city dwellers. Campaigning in the Rangpur City Corporation election ended on Sunday midnight amid much enthusiasm. A total of 229 presiding officers, 1,349 assistant presiding officers and 2,698 polling officers are performing their duties to maintain order in the voting centres. The first Rangpur City Corporation election was held on December 21, 2017. The tenure of the current mayor will expire on February 18, 2023. Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, CEC Kazi Habibul Awal said the voting was underway at a slow pace for using EVMs. The voting might continue till 7-8 pm due the long queues at the polling centres, he added. The EC would look into whether there is any other reason behind the delay in voting, he added. Read more: Rangpur City Corporation: Voting begins amid enthusiasm “We have got some allegations of slow voting due to electronic voting machines (EVMs) but all the voters at the centers will be allowed to exercise their franchise till night,” he said. The Election Commission was monitoring the election through CC cameras from a control room.