Voting ends, counting continues in KCC polls

The voting in the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) election ended peacefully this afternoon amid stringent security measures and festivity while the vote counting is being carried out in the polling stations.

The voting started at 8am and continued till 4 pm without any break.

The ruling Awami League (AL) mayoral candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque cast his vote at the Khulna city's Pioneer High school centre while BNP mayoral runner Nazrul Islam Monju cast his vote at Rahima Khatun Government Primary School centre, according to a state-run news agency.

Both the AL and BNP mayoral candidates expressed their hope in winning the polls while talking to newsmen after casting their votes.

According to Returning Officer (RO) of the KCC polls, a total of 191candidates, including five for mayoral post, 148 for councilor posts, 38 for reserved posts for women, vied in the polls while 4,93,093 voters exercised their voting rights in 1,178 polling stations across the city corporation area.

The mayor candidates contested in the polls with the partisan symbol for the first time, the RO office sources said.

The mayor candidates are ruling Awami League nominated Talukder Abdul Khalek, BNP nominated Najrul Islam Manju, Jatiya Party nominated SM Shafiqur Rahman, Islami Andolan Bangladesh nominated Principal Maulana Mujammil Haque and Communist Party of Bangladesh nominated Mizanur Rahman Babu.