47 candidates have been elected for the post of chairman, vice chairman and female vice chairman in 308 upazilas of the upcoming sixth upazila parishad elections in the first and second phase. According to Election Commission sources, there will be no voting in several upazilas. Among them, one candidate has submitted nomination for all posts in Cumilla Adarsha Sadar and Chattogram Raujan Upazila. As a result, there will be no need for voting in these two upazilas.
The Election Commission is conducting polling in four phases in 476 upazilas out of 495 upazilas of the country. Election time has not yet passed in 19 upazila parishads, EC said that polls will be taken in all those parishads later.
In this election, no political party is using its party symbol. If the grassroot leaders of the ruling party participate in the election with a separate symbol, the opposition BNP has already said that it will not participate in any election under this government. As a result, the leaders of the ruling party have entered into competition with each other in the upazilas where competition is taking place. However, in some upazilas, BNP grassroot leaders are running as candidates, ignoring party decisions.
According to the election experts, the local government elections are expected to be competitive, but the Awami League incumbent leaders are running against the Awami League everywhere. Among them, many upazilas are being elected unopposed. According to them, there are no candidates in many upazilas due to the pressure of local influential leaders or compromise among themselves.
According to the Election Commission schedule, this year's upazila elections will be held in four phases. Among them, voting will be held in 148 upazilas of the first phase on Wednesday, May 8. And the voting in 160 upazilas of the second phase will be held on Tuesday, May 21.
According to EC sources, there are 730 candidates for the post of chairman, 763 candidates for the post of vice chairman and 562 candidates for the post of female vice chairman. Out of this 26 candidates were elected unopposed. Seven persons in the post of chairman, nine in the post of vice-chairman and 10 in the post of female vice-chairman.
There are 605 candidates for the post of chairman, 694 candidates for the post of vice chairman, and 529 candidates for the post of female vice chairman in the second phase election. Among them 21 candidates were elected unopposed. Here, seven persons have been elected as chairman, seven as vice chairman, seven as women vice chairman.
EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath said that in the third phase, 570 people are in the position of chairman, 618 people are in the position of vice chairman and 400 people are in the position of female vice chairman; A total of 1588 candidates filed their nomination papers. The process of selection, withdrawal, and symbol allotment for the third phase and nomination papers for the fourth phase is not over yet.
He also said that among those who filed nomination papers in the third phase, there are five single candidates. There is a single candidate for the post of female vice chairman in Chandnaish of Chattogram, vice chairman and female vice chairman in Bhandaria of Pirojpur, vice chairman in Abhaynagar of Jashore and Chhatak female vice chairman in Sunamganj. If these candidates survive the selection and do not withdraw their candidature, they can be elected unopposed.
According to the schedule, polling will be held in the third phase in 112 upazilas on May 29 and in the fourth phase in 55 upazilas on June 6. In the first phase, 22, 24 in the second phase, 21 in the third phase and two upazilas in the fourth phase will be conducted in electronic voting machines (EVM).
Chairman of the Election Monitoring Council Professor Dr. Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah told Barta24.com that no one wants to be a candidate if a popular candidate is a candidate regardless of general party opinion. But such a person is not common. The reality is that others are afraid to be a candidate, and no one wants to be a candidate because they don't have the huge amount of money required to be an election candidate.
He also said, "Whoever is strong is his, as a result, in many cases, no one is running as a candidate in many places under the pressure of the ruling party." Popular representation decreases as the number of uncontested election wins increases. As a result, people's aspirations are not reflected.