RAJSHAHI – With four days left, campaign for the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) election has become climax as both mayoral and ward councilor candidates along with their workers and supporters are passing very busy days at this moment.
The candidates are seen meeting voters irrespective of age, sex and creed and caste with posters and leaflets to drum up support for them from early morning to midnight.
Flanked by large number of party leaders and workers, the mayoral contestants are also seen meeting voters seeking their support throughout the day braving both sultry and rainy situation. The city areas got a new looks with huge posters, banners and festoons.
Side by side with male workers, the presence of female workers in the election campaign is significant this time. More than 20,000 women are taking part in the ongoing election campaign.
Being unable to reach all the voters due to time constraints frequently, the candidates for both mayoral and general councilors engaged the female workers in their campaign activities massively.
“Female workers are more sincere and effective to motivate voters along with attaining their supports than the male ones,” said Shariful Islam Babu, a candidate for general councilor.
The women engagement in the election campaign is also important for their empowerment and capacity building, he added.
Syed Amirul Islam, Returning Officer for the RCC election, says a total of 217 candidates are contesting the upcoming RCC election scheduled to be held on July 30. Of them, five are vying the post of mayor, 160 for general
councilors and 52 for reserved seats for women councilors.
AHM Khairuzzaman Liton (Boat), Musaddique Hossain Bulbul (Paddy Sheaf), Habibur Rahman (Jackfruit), Shafiqul Islam (Hand fan) and Advocate Murad Murshed (Elephant) are the mayoral aspirants. All of them have already declared their election manifesto promising to present a happy city if they were elected.
He said there are 3,18,138 voters including 1,62,053 female voters who will exercise their right of franchise in 1,026 booths of 138 centers to elect one mayor, 30 general councilors and 10 women councilors in reserved seats in the upcoming election.
Some 31,221 new voters are likely to exercise their right of franchise in the upcoming election. Talking to BSS, many of them said they will cast their votes in favour of the candidate who will lead the city smartly. “We will remain in favour of development of the city,” said Monimul Haque, 20, a resident of Khojapur area.
He expected that the election will fulfill hopes and aspirations of the city dwellers as a whole. “I am very much happy and enjoying the city’s gradually changing atmosphere,” said Momtaj Uddin, 19, a new voter of Meherchandia area.
He expects all the contestants and their supporters will follow election code of conduct till the last day of the campaign.
Bilkish Banu, 18, a resident of Haragram area, expressed her happiness over the election mode across the city. She, however, expects a peaceful and congenial atmosphere during the entire electioneering period.
