Voting will take place on Monday (September 20) in the country's 160 Union Parishad (UP) elections. At the same time, voting will be held in nine municipalities. However, before the polls, the Awami League nominated chairman candidates in 43 UPs in Bagerhat, Chattogram and Khulna were elected without any vote. Besides, they have also won as they are one candidate each for the post of mayor of three pourashavas. Apart from the posts of chairman and mayor, votes will be taken for other posts in these places.
Voting will continue on Monday (September 20) from 8 am to 4 pm. All kinds of preparations for voting have already been completed.
There are 34 unions in Khulna, 66 in Bagerhat, 21 in Satkhira, 13 in Noakhali, 12 in Chittagong and 14 in Cox's Bazaar. Outside Bagerhat, Awami League candidates have been elected unopposed in 4 unions in Sandwip of Chattogram and 1 in Khulna.
According to EC sources, out of 160 UPs, 43 have been elected unopposed. There are a total of 500 candidates for the post of chairman. There are 1,975 candidates in the reserved ward and 6,333 candidates in the general ward. Meanwhile, in three of the nine pourashavas, the mayors have been elected unopposed. Besides, 27 people will contest for the post of mayor in the remaining municipalities.
Since 2016, the party symbol has been introduced for the post of chairman in the UP elections. However, the BNP has already informed that it will not take part in the election this time.
This time around four and a half thousand UPs will vote in a few steps. On March 3, the Election Commission announced the schedule of 371 UP votes in the first phase. Voting was postponed due to the Covid-19 infection situation. Voting was held on June 21 in 204 UPs. Voting in 167 UP constituencies was postponed due to the deteriorating corona situation in the border areas. Of the 167 UPs suspended in the first phase, 160 are going to the polls on Monday.