Elections to reserved seats for women in 377 upazilas today

Elections to the 1,245 reserved seats for women in 377 upazila parishads will be held today for the first time in the country.

A total of 2,536 candidates are contesting the polls, while 11,168 voters are entitled to exercise their franchise. Voting will be held from 8:00am to 2:00pm uninterruptedly, said Election Commission officials.

Elections to chairman and vice chairperson posts in 783 upazila parishads were held between February last year and the beginning of this year. The EC on May 13, announced schedules for the elections to 1,546 reserved seats for women in 478 upazilas. But 301 women members in 93 upazilas were elected uncontested. Elections to eight upazilas cannot be held due to complexity over boundary demarcation. According to the Upazila Parishad Act 1998, the equal number of seats to one-third numbers of union parishads or municipalities in an upazila must be reserved for women who will be elected as members of that particular upazila parishad.