I highly appreciate the decision made by the Election Commission to set the new date for polls on February 1 as the earlier date coincided with Saraswati Puja. With a little more than a week remaining, it is no surprise that the electioneering for Dhaka north and south city corporations are at full swing now. While I understand that activities such as meetings, putting up posters, promotion of candidates over the mic, pamphlet distribution are among the many prerequisites prior to an election, it is the Election Commission’s responsibility to make sure that such undertakings do not hamper the status quo of the citizens and the city at large. 

The amount of posters and banners have blanketed many of the streets in residential areas, if not all. Now is also the time when the candidates are preparing for their SSC examinations. Though the government deferred the SSC and its equivalent examinations following the announcement of the new date for elections, the chaos that results from the ongoing campaigns is taking a toll on the students and hindering concentration during their studies. I hope the concerned authorities take such matters into serious consideration.

Nahian Zaman, Dhaka