National

Dhaka city polls on scheduled date

The elections to Dhaka North and South City Corporations will be held on the scheduled date of January 30 after the High Court has rejected a writ petition seeking rescheduling of the polls.

The bench of justices JBM Hasan and Md Khairul Alam passed the order on Tuesday.

UNB adds: The order was given considering the progress in the election process and the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations scheduled to take place on February 2.

On January 6, Advocate Ashoke Kumar Ghosh, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed the writ seeking its directive to defer the polls as Saraswati Puja, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Hindu community, will be celebrated across the country on the day.

Saraswati Puja is celebrated in all universities, colleges and other educational institutions across the country while polling stations will be set up in different educational institutions in the city for the polls which will hamper the celebrations, the writ said.

On December 22 last, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda announced the election schedule for the polls to DNCC and DSCC fixing January 30 as the voting date.