Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Md Ahsan Habib Khan said around 40 per cent of votes will be cast in the Voting in Barishal City Corporation (BCC) and Khulna City Corporation (KCC) elections which ended amid much enthusiasm today (Monday).
He made the expectation while briefing the media in the afternoon.
The voting began at 8 am and continued till 4 pm without any break. Now the counting is going on.
Voters were seen standing in long queues at polling centres to cast their votes using Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in a peaceful manner amid tight security.
KCC has 289 voting centres. In the Khulna city corporation election, five candidates are vying for the mayoral post, 136 for councillors 31 general wards, and 39 for 10 reserved seats.
There are 535,529 voters in the 31 wards of Khulna city.
Awami League has nominated Talukder Abdul Khaleque, the outgoing mayor and president of the Khulna city Awami League, as their mayoral candidate again.
Other mayoral candidates are Shafiqul Islam from Janiya party, Abdul Awal from Islami Andolon Bangladesh, SM Sabbir Hossain from Jaker Party, and SM Shafiqur Rahman Independent.
The election commission has deployed eleven platoons BGB to ensure security in Khulna city.
On the other hand, seven candidates are competing for the mayoral post in the Barishal city polls. Besides, 118 candidates are in the race for the post of general councillor and 42 candidates for the reserved councillor post.
Awami League mayor nominee Abul Khair Abdullah and Islami Andolon Bangladesh's Mufti Syed Faizul are the two strong candidates.
A total of 276,298 voters were listed to cast their votes in 126 polling stations in Barishal City.
Police, RAB and BGB are jointly working to maintain law and order.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
