Mahi for safe neighbourhoods

Mahi B Chowdhury, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh-backed candidate for Dhaka North City Corporation, yesterday pledged to build a safe, vibrant, and shiny city.

Presenting his seven-page manifesto at a press conference at a hotel, Mahi said he prepared it in the light of the opinions of people of all ages.

In his innovative manifesto, Mahi pledged to resolve the city's problems through a "SMART" approach where S stands for specific, M for measurable, A for achievable, R for realistic and T for time-bound. "It means we will have to identify the problems, and the problems will have to be measurable for solution," he said.

For example, he said, it should be countable what steps "I have taken to curb corruption in the first 100 days, and one, two or five years."

The son of former president Prof AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury alleged that his rivals did not do any homework while preparing their respective manifestoes.

Referring to the fact that the ruling party-backed candidate Annisul Huq expressed sadness at Mahi's comments that the former's manifesto lacks substance, Mahi said Annisul Huq was new in politics. He said there was nothing to take the opponent's reaction personally.

"A city mayor must be a politician," he added.