My defeat was planned: Monirul

Independent candidate Monirul Haque Sakku at the Cumilla district Shipakala Academy during the announcement of poll results on WednesdaySuvra Kanti Das

Independent candidate Monirul Haque Sakku has announced to take legal action, challenging the declared results of Cumilla City Corporation (CCC) polls. He said he was deliberately defeated in the election.

Chaos broke out at the Cumilla district Shilpakala Academy on Wednesday night during the last stage of declaring the results of the polls. Supporters of Monirul Haque, who was expelled from BNP, protested when the returning officer spoke of a break in announcing the poll results. Monirul took position there demanding announcement of results uninterruptedly. Later, a group of followers of Awami League candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat went there and created chaos. The announcement of results were halted for a while due to this.

After that short break, Arfanul was unofficially declared the winner by returning officer Shahedunnabi Chowdhury. Arfanul was shown the winner by a margin of 343 votes over Monirul.

Monirul, who was optimistic about winning this election, told Prothom Alo, “I am from a political family. My cousin Colonel (Ret.) Akbar Hossain won elections five times from Cumilla-6 constituency with the symbol ‘paddy sheaf’. I have worked for him in all of these elections. Members of the family have not lost an election since 1979.”

Monirul, who has long been associated with the BNP, had to compete in the election without the support of the party. He was expelled from the BNP for taking part in the election ignoring the party’s decision. The leaders and activists of BNP were even advised to avoid Monirul Haque.

After that, another independent candidate from the BNP camp contested for the post of mayor in this election. Nizam Uddin Kaiser, president of district Swechchhasebak Dal, got 29,099 votes with the horse symbol.

In an instant reaction after the declaration of the result, Monirul told newpersons, “The election commission has lost its credibility in the very first test. I was shown defeated deliberately by delaying the announcement of poll results on the government’s instructions. I will take legal action against this result.”

Monirul was elected the chairman in the first Cumilla pourashava (municipality) polls in 2005. After the formation of Cumilla City Corporation, he was elected the mayor in 2012 and 2018 elections defeating Awami League nominated candidates.

As BNP boycotted the local government elections this time, Monirul had to choose between the party and the election. However, Monirul declared to take part in the election to continue his work for the development of the city ignoring the party's decision. He competed in the election as an independent candidate with the ‘table clock’ symbol.