Voting underway in Cumilla, Mymensingh

Voting in the Cumilla and Mymensingh city corporation elections began on Saturday, two months after the 12th parliamentary election held on 7 January.

Balloting started at 8:00am and will continue until 4:00pm at a stretch.

Though ballot papers were used in the 7 January election, voting is being held in Cumilla and Mymensingh using electronic voting machines (EVMs).

In Cumilla, voters will exercise their franchise to choose the next mayor while voting is being held for all posts including mayor and counsellors in Mymensingh as the tenure of the last city corporation body has expired.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party did not take part in the city polls while the ruling Awami League fielded no party candidates. However, five leaders of Awami League – two in Cumilla and three in Mymensingh – are contesting for the mayoral post in these elections.

There are 242,458 voters in Cumilla City Corporation and 336,496 voters in Mymensingh City Corporation. A total of 146 candidates are contesting for the councillor posts and 69 for the reserved councillor posts.

Voting for election and by-election, however, is also underway at various levels of the local government in a total of 231 places across the country including Cumilla and Mymensingh city corporations on Saturday.