Gazipur: Voting in the high-voltage Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) election was concluded peacefully on Saturday with a high turnout of voters, especially women.

Immediately after end of the polling, vote counting has started at 5:00pm in all 392 polling centres in Gazipur city marked by high turnout of voters.

The voting ended at about 4:00 pm without any major untoward incident in any centre of the new city corporation. The voting in all 392 centres began at 8:00am in the morning.

The Returning Officer told journalists that the voters' turnout was over 75 percent.

After casting their votes, the two main contenders for the mayoral post — ruling Awami League led 14-party supported candidate Ajmat Ullah and BNP led 18 –party supported candidate MA Mannan — expressed their strong hope to win the maiden polls in the country’s largest city corporation.

Gazipur City Corporation was formed on January 7 while the schedule for the polls declared on May 22 last.

The voters in massive numbers queued up in front of polling centres and started casting their votes at 8:00am on Saturday morning amid tight security and fear of clashes between supporters of main rival fronts.

Around 75 percent votes were cast by 4:00 pm in different polling centres of the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) election, according to presiding officers of different polling centres.

KM Delwar Hossain, presiding officer of Abdul Majid Akond Memorial High Schol Centre, said voting is going on in a peaceful manner.

"No untoward situation occurred and I hope turnout in the polls would be 90 percent," he added.

The city wore a festive look with spontaneous participation of voters in the election.

According to presiding officers in various centres, no major incidents were reported from anywhere and voters were seen in queues for casting their votes peacefully.

Earlier voting in the city polls started just at 8:00am in all 392 centres at a time and it continued till at 4:00pm without any break.

A total of 456 candidates are vying for 57 councillor posts while 128 for 19 councillor posts (reserved) in the city corporation.

While visiting different polling centres, it was seen that the voters had started arriving at the polling centres even an hour ahead of the start of voting with much enthusiasm.

Even women voters were seen pouring in to polling centres in massive numbers to cast their votes for electing the maiden mayor and councilors.

Around 50 to 100 people were seen in lines of voters at 7:30am who poured in to different centres like Shalna Nasirudding High School and College, Shalna Islamia Madrasa, Porabari Government Primary School, Bharat Haji Rokonudding Primary School, Gazipur Government Women’s College, Joydevpur Girl’s High School, Munnu Textile Mills High School in Tongi and Shafi Udding College centres for casting votes in the early hours of polling on Saturday amid tight security.

A scuffle took place between the supporters of Ajmat and Hannan at Government Girl’s College polling center at 11:00 am. Later, police brought the situation under control.

BNP backed candidate MA Mannan alleged that the law enforcers conducted separate raids on the houses of his supporters on Friday night and harassed them.

“They also arrested his three supporters from Board Bazar area at night,” he added.

All the polling centres were decorated with posters and banners of seven mayoral and 591 councillor candidates seeking votes for them.

Outside each polling centres there are camps of mayoral and councilors for helping voters to find out their voter numbers from electoral rolls. And all those camps were decorated with posters of all candidates, symbols and banners requesting voters to cast votes in their favour.

Against the backdrop of humiliating rout of ruling Awami League in four city corporation polls on June 15, the maiden Gazipur City Corporation election began as the whole nation is watching it amid numerous speculations.

Overenthusiastic Gazipur people from all walks of life queued up in front of 392 polling centres for casting votes in the maiden polls for electing mayor and councilors for the Gazipur City Corporation.

Despite fear of violence, voters of various city areas, including Hatibar, Tangail BISIC, Shalna, Pubail, Konabari and Basan, said they are ready to go to polling centres to cast their votes for electing their first mayor.

Leaders of both the opposition and ruling parties accused each other of trying to flex their muscle to manipulate the polls.

The non-party local government polls has stolen all the focus of the nation as the final acid test for the ruling alliance which had already lost ground in four city corporation polls despite all-out efforts amid plunging popularity on corruption, series of scandals in bank, stocks market, Padm Bridge, Rental power plants and many more controversies that plagued the five year rule of the AL-led grand alliance government.

Many voters fear that the supporters of two major mayoral candidates — 14-party-supported Azmat Ullah Khan and 18-party-blessed MA Mannan –- could engage in violence during the polls as tension heightened amid accusations and counter-accusations of conspires against each other to resort to violence to terrorise the voters.

Though non-partisan in nature, the local government polls will see the battle between the two candidates blessed by two major political camps — the Awami League-led 14-party alliance and the BNP-led 18-party alliance.

Six mayoral contenders — Azmat Ullah Khan, MA Mannan, Mezbah Uddin Sarker, Aman Ullah, Rina Sultana and Nazim Uddin Ahmed –- are there in the election race.

Tough the main battle is expected to be between Azmat Ullah Khan and MA Mannan.

After the debacle of the grand alliance-blessed candidates in the polls to four city corporations — Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barisal –  on June 15, the Awami League-led 14-party ruling alliance is desperate to win the polls ahead of the national election due in January next.

On the other hand, the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance wants to maintain the winning streak also in the GCC polls as they think the people of Gazipur will also air out their grievances against the current regime through the ballot.

Mannan expressed his optimism over winning the polls with a big margin, though he was skeptical about free and fair polls.

He alleged that conspiracies are being hatched to manipulate the election.

BNP central leader ASM Hannan Shah, who coordinated the campaign of the 18-party alliance-backed mayoral runner alleged that the local administration is working in favour of the ruling party-blessed mayoral candidate Azmat Ullah Khan.

Azmat, in his campaign, also accused his rival Mannan and his supporters of carrying out various propagandas to snatch his victory.

Many think like in the four city corporation polls, the crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam men at Motijheel in the capital on the night of May 5 and torture, repression and arrest of Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefajat activists will act as determining factors in the GCC polls, too.

However, though there are fear of violence, voters of various city areas, including Hatibar, Tangail BISIC, Shalna, Pubail, Konabari and Basan, said they are ready to go to polls centre to cast their votes for electing their first mayor.

Leaders of both the opposition and ruling parties accused each other of trying to flex their muscle to manipulate the polls.

The EC has completed all necessary preparations for holding the polls to the newly formed city corporation.

Local election offices on Friday started distributing electoral materials, including ballot papers, to presiding officers of the respective centres.

Earlier, curtains fell on election campaign on Thursday midnight. In their last-gasp efforts to wee voters, the contestants made door-to-door visits and conducted hectic campaigns all day long.

Many central leaders of both the Awami League and BNP conducted campaigns in favour of their party-backed candidates.

A total of 466 candidates are contesting the polls for the posts of councillor in addition to 126 councillor posts reserved for women.

A total of 1,026,964 voters — 499,181 males and 527,783 females — are expected to exercise their franchise in 392 centres to elect the mayor as well as 57 councillors and 19 women councillors (reserved) in Saturday’s polls.

The EC declared 235 of the centres as important ones and took special security measures for those.

Sources said 12,000 members of different law enforcement agencies were deployed in the GCC election to ensure free and fair polls.

Apart from police, 19 teams of the Striking Force each with an executive magistrate, 28 teams of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and 12 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were kept stationed in the election area.

There were 57 police teams in 57 wards and 10 judicial magistrates to take action in case of violation of the Electoral Code of Conduct.

Returning officer Matiar Rahman ruled out the possibility of violence in the election, saying the polls were held in a free and fair manner.

Saturday is a public holiday in Gazipur as declared by the Election Commission.

Ends/OSR/AMA/06/07/13