UZ polls: 5th phase AL\\\'s

The Awami League (AL) powered away from the BNP after trailing in the first three legs to win the Upazila Parishad polls that the opposition alleges were rigged. According to results from 71 Upazilas (UZ) after Monday’s fifth phase of voting, candidates loyal to the ruling party won the chairman race in 54 sub-districts while the BNP-endorsed aspirants won in 11. Until the early hours of Tuesday, the Jamaat-e-Islami-backed chairman candidates won at three UZs while two others went to aspirants loyal to Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)-based Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) and another to United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF). Altogether 73 Upazilas in 34 districts went to elections but results from Barguna’s Amtoli and Narayanganj’s Sonargaon were not announced as voting at those areas was countermanded. As many as 1,059 aspirants ran for chairman, male vice-chairman and female vice-chairperson in every UZs. No major violence took place during the 5th round of balloting, according to bdnews24.com.