Dhaka city by-election has opened as the capital dwellers are going to cast their franchise to elect Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayor.

Voting is also being held for the post of general counselors and reserved seats’ councilors in 36 wards newly added to Dhaka North and South cities.

“The EC has given necessary direction to the law enforcement agencies for taking action against any kind of violence or untoward incident during the poll time. All preparations to this end have already been completed,” Election Commission (EC) Secretary M Helaluddin told the media on Wednesday (Feb 27).

Polls opened at 8am and will continue until 4pm.

According the EC sources, a total of 36 extended wards including 18 wards under Dhaka North City Corporation and 18 under Dhaka South City Corporation election will be held.

A total of 382 mayor, councilor and reserved women councilor candidates are participating in the election. Five candidates including Awami League (AL) nominated candidate Atiqul Islam have been contesting for the mayoral post of DNCC.

The four other aspirants for the mayor post are – Jatiya Party’s (JP) Shafin Ahmed, National People’s Party’s (NPP) Anisur Rahman Dewan, People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Shahin Khan and independent candidate Abdur Rahim.

Meanwhile, the EC imposed a ban on the movement of all kinds of vehicles in the South and North election areas. The restriction will come into force from Wednesday midnight to Thursday midnight. The Commission has also imposed a ban on the movement of motorbikes in the election areas from Tuesday midnight to Friday midnight.

Law enforcement agencies have already been deployed in the two city corporation areas to ensure security of the voters and smooth conduct of polls.

In terms of population, the DNCC is the country’s largest city corporation area with 2.35 million voters. The mayoral post fell vacant after the death of former mayor Anisul Huq on Nov 30, 2017.

Photo: Nashirul Islam and Sheikh Jahangir Alam