Law enforcers on high alert as sabotage feared
Saturday, 20 December 2008
CHITTAGONG, Dec 19 (bdnews24.com): The two alliances led by Awami League and BNP are gearing up as the main players in the upcoming election battle in the port city.
The AL-led grand alliance is making all-out efforts to add to their record in the previous polls, while the BNP-led camp is leaving no stone unturned in coaxing voters to repeat their 2001 lead against their rivals by 14 seats to 2.
The two major alliances will see the fiercest fight as popularity and other merits of their candidates top election concerns among the public, say observers.
Some 17 political parties in Chittagong have fielded 75 candidates, excluding seven independents running for four seats in the city and 12 in the district. Two constituencies, Chittagong-5 (Raozan) and Chittagong-6 (Rangunia), have only candidates from the alliances.
Meanwhile, both AL and BNP have nomination-deprived party stalwarts running as independents in Chittagong-9 (Double Mooring), Chittagong-3 (Chandanaish), Chittagong-14 (Satkania) and Chittagong-16 (Sandwip) seats.
The most candidates per seat are contesting for Chittagong-10 (Bandar-Patenga) - ten in all, seven party men and three independents.
The city has turned into a centre of polls buzz, slogans and rallies as elsewhere in the country. Door-to-door canvassing has reached maximum momentum as candidates have begun campaigning day and night to drum up support.
Our Correspondent adds: on the eve of the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad election, sabotage and other criminal activities are apprehended in Chittagong and law enforcers have been asked to remain alert. Security measures have therefore been intensified in the city and elsewhere in the district, law enforcement sources said.
Criminals who had slipped out of the country earlier are said to be returning home. Others of the same ilk who had been hiding inside the country are now surfacing and reportedly becoming active.
Landlords have been advised to keep pictures and nationality certificates of their tenants which they may be asked to produce. Twenty teams of CMP and twelve of RAB have started patrolling the city. Sources have been deployed to be on the lookout for terrorists, saboteurs, thugs and other troublemakers and precautions are being taken so that innocent citizens are not harassed unnecessarily. Slums and hotels are under constant vigilance.
The AL-led grand alliance is making all-out efforts to add to their record in the previous polls, while the BNP-led camp is leaving no stone unturned in coaxing voters to repeat their 2001 lead against their rivals by 14 seats to 2.
The two major alliances will see the fiercest fight as popularity and other merits of their candidates top election concerns among the public, say observers.
Some 17 political parties in Chittagong have fielded 75 candidates, excluding seven independents running for four seats in the city and 12 in the district. Two constituencies, Chittagong-5 (Raozan) and Chittagong-6 (Rangunia), have only candidates from the alliances.
Meanwhile, both AL and BNP have nomination-deprived party stalwarts running as independents in Chittagong-9 (Double Mooring), Chittagong-3 (Chandanaish), Chittagong-14 (Satkania) and Chittagong-16 (Sandwip) seats.
The most candidates per seat are contesting for Chittagong-10 (Bandar-Patenga) - ten in all, seven party men and three independents.
The city has turned into a centre of polls buzz, slogans and rallies as elsewhere in the country. Door-to-door canvassing has reached maximum momentum as candidates have begun campaigning day and night to drum up support.
Our Correspondent adds: on the eve of the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad election, sabotage and other criminal activities are apprehended in Chittagong and law enforcers have been asked to remain alert. Security measures have therefore been intensified in the city and elsewhere in the district, law enforcement sources said.
Criminals who had slipped out of the country earlier are said to be returning home. Others of the same ilk who had been hiding inside the country are now surfacing and reportedly becoming active.
Landlords have been advised to keep pictures and nationality certificates of their tenants which they may be asked to produce. Twenty teams of CMP and twelve of RAB have started patrolling the city. Sources have been deployed to be on the lookout for terrorists, saboteurs, thugs and other troublemakers and precautions are being taken so that innocent citizens are not harassed unnecessarily. Slums and hotels are under constant vigilance.