Shuchona elected Mayor of Cumilla, Titu of M’singh

Tahseen Bahar Shuchona of ruling Awami League (AL), daughter of AKM Baharuddin, MP, was on Saturday elected as the first female Mayor of Cumilla City.

ALs Ekramul Haque Titu was re-elected Mayor of  Mymensingh City.  

Shuchona, also Organizing Secretary of Cumilla City unit Awami League, contested in the mayoral by-polls with Bus symbol and got 48,890 votes.  

Former Mayor Ekramul Haque Titu, also  Mymensingh metropolitan Awami League President contested with Table Clock symbol and got 119,923 votes.    

The polls were by and large peaceful barring scattered incidents of violence, including a shootout outside a polling station, and allegations of agent expulsion and  intimidation of voters.

Returning officer of Cumilla City Farhad Hossain announced the result from the Cumilla District School Auditorium.

Shuchonas nearest rival candidate BNP leader Monirul Haque Sakku who contested with  Table Clock symbol got 26, 897 votes.

Nizam Uddin Kaiser (Horse), former president of Cumilla city unit Swechhasebak Dal, got 13,155 votes.

Noor ur Rahman Mahmud Tanim, a candidate with the Elephant symbol, got 5,173 votes.

Tension flared early in the day as three mayoral candidates accused Tahseen Bahar Shuchona  and her supporters of driving out their polling agents.

Clashes occurred between supporters outside the Munshi M Ali High School centre, in which at least two persons were shot at and injured.

Nizam Uddin Kaisar, a former BNP leader who contested as Mayor candidate with Horse symbol, identified the injured as his supporters, Zahirul Islam and Md Tuhin.

Malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) over fingerprint recognition were a common complaints in both the city elections.

From Mymensingh no election violence  was reported, but a number of elderly voters expressed frustration being denied the opportunity to vote due to fingerprint mismatch  in the EVM.

Ekramul Haques nearest rival district Awami League advisor Sadekul Haque Khan with Elephant symbol got 31,630 votes.

District Awami League president Ehtesamul Alam with horse got 8,928 votes.

Independent candidate agriculturist Rezaul Haque with Deer symbol got 1,267 votes and Jatiya Party candidate Shahidul Islam with Plough symbol got 1,093 votes. Municipal elections were held in Patuakhali, Bakshiganj, Jamalpur and Amtali in Barguna.

Out of Cumilla Citys 2,42,458 voters, 38.8 per cent cast votes.  Out of Mymensingh Citys 3,36,496 voters 48.52 per cent cast votes.