144 to vie for 31mayor posts in Khulna division
One hundred and forty-four candidates will now contest for the post of mayor in 31 out of 33 municipalities of ten districts in Khulna division.
However, the election to Lohagarha municipality of Narail district remained stayed by the High Court.
On the other hand, election to Magura Sadar municipality will be held on January 27 as per schedule of the Election Commission as court quashed the stay order.
According to sources at Khulna divisional office of the Election Commission, 52 out of 196 candidates for mayoral posts withdrew their nominations on December 27.
The highest number of 17 out of 45 mayor candidates who have left the race are from Jessore district followed by 16 out of 44 candidates from Jhenidah district.
Only one out of 15 candidates withdrew nomination leaving 14 others in the race to vie for the post of mayor of Satkhira Sadar and Kalaroa municipalities in Satkhira district.
Sources said both Awami League and BNP failed to resolve intra-party squabbles to prevent more than one candidate from submitting nomination papers for mayoral posts in most of municipalities in 10 districts of Khulna division.
December 15 was the last date for submitting nomination papers while December 27 was the date for withdrawal. The scrutiny of nomination papers was held on December 18 and 19.
The authorities will set up 500 polling centres having 2,864 polling booths for 33 municipalities in ten districts of Khulna division.
According to Election Commission office sources, the total number of voters for polls in Khulna division is 8,83,564.
Of them 4,36,341 are male and 4,47,223 female.
Meanwhile, 282 out of 500 polling centres in ten districts of Khulna division have been identified as most risky. These polling centres are located in the outlaw-infested districts, EC office sources said.x
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