Manju elected CCC mayor

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FE Team | Published: June 19, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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Our Correspondent
CHITTAGONG, Jun 18: The BNP-backed Manjur Alam has cruised to a stunning victory in the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) elections, catapulting him to the helm of the port city.
Mr. Monjur managed to crush his former political mentor and Awami League veteran, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, by scoring a big margin of 95,500 votes in the mayoral election held yesterday.
The mayor-elect bagged 475,145 votes while his key rival Mohiuddin lagged far behind with just 383,617 votes, apparently paying heavily for internal party squabbling.
Political observers here were baffled at the results, saying it's an "unimaginable win" for the low-profile politician, who was once an Awami Leaguer, but got blessing from the main opposition.
Returning officer Jesmin Tuli announced the polls results at 10.30 in the morning today at the returning officer's temporary office at MA Aziz Stadium gymnasium in the city.
In an instant reaction, the mayor-elect Manjur Alam said he wants "to work alongside the defeated mayor and Awami League backed candidate Mohiuddin Chowdhury for development of Chittagong and the welfare of the city residents."
"Development of Chittagong is not possible without his (Mohiuddin's) cooperation," a beaming Monjur told an army of reporters covering the closely-watched city corporation elections.
"He is like my elder brother. I will seek his help in the development activities. If I approach him I hope he will not drive me away," he added.
He also hailed the people of Chittagong city for their mandate, which will give him the opportunity to serve more than 5.0 million population in the municipal area, second biggest after the capital Dhaka.
Mohiuddin, however, avoided the press corpse and did not give any formal reaction. But leaders of the ruling Awami League said, "He (Mohiuddin) accepted the results."
He declined to give comments when local reporters rushed to his city residence in the morning.
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, who acted as the chief election coordinator of the Mayor-elect, said the results have brought "a sea change."
"We called for a change. Thankfully, we got it," he said.
Mr. Khosru, a former commerce minister, said the people of Chittagong proved that "they can make changes."
Manju first hogged the limelight of Chittaong politics when he served as mayor of Chittagong for 17 months when Mohiuddin was imprisoned by the caretaker government on charges of corruption.
He was also a three-time elected councilor from north Kattali ward of the CCC.
Manju also served as an acting mayor of the CCC during the tenures of Mohiuddin Chowdhury as and when he went abroad on official tours.
More than half the registered voters cast their ballots, with the Election Commission reporting a 54.5 per cent turnout.
The simmering tension in Chittagong following Thursday's city polls boiled over into violence between activists of the two main political parties.
The party cadres chased and hurled brickbats at each other outside the temporary Election Commission office at M A Aziz Stadium. A police sub-inspector on duty at the election office was earlier attacked and injured.
Two police motorcycles and two tea-stalls were set on fire. At least 20 vehicles, including seven being used by the Election Commission and the police, were also vandalised.
Subsequently a large battalion of police arrived at the spot and charged the unruly party supporters with batons to disperse them.
The Chittagong BNP president alleged on Thursday night that presiding officers were not signing the poll results and intentionally delaying the results as Manzur was winning. The Election Commission, however, refuted the accusation as 'baseless'.
According to the latest voter roll, the Chittagong City Corporation has 1,688,676 voters, of which 873,165 are male and 815,511 are female voters.