Rezaul keeps it clean
AL candidate’s approach of not speaking ill about competitor welcomed by electorates
Awami League (AL) mayoral candidate in Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) polls Rezaul Karim Chowdhury steered clear of any badmouthing of his main opponent during electioneering yesterday, and the strategy seemed to be working in his favour.
A good number of leaders and activists of AL and its associate organisations were with him during the campaign in three wards of the city yesterday, unperturbed by fears of coronavirus that have been looming over citizens in the last two days.
Scores of local residents were also seen gathering at the campaign spots.
Rezaul started his campaign from Saltgola Crossing in South Halishahar around 2pm. He went there by a mini-truck but later conducted campaigning on foot as well. He addressed gatherings at different spots in the ward, urging the people to vote for him for the sake of continuation of the ongoing development work in the city.
Rezaul did not speak a single ill word against his main rival, BNP candidate Shahadat Hossain, which, according to many locals, was a very positive attitude. He instead chose to make the case that since he is the candidate nominated by the ruling party, it will be easier for him to continue development in the city if he is elected.
Bazal Ahmed, a senior citizen from Soltgola area, appreciated Rezaul's approach. "In past polls, we saw rival candidates remain busy in undermining each other… they used to make ill and derogatory comments against each other but Rezaul remained polite and did not make any derogatory comment about his rival candidate," he told this correspondent.
Another resident Bimal Barua told The Daily Star that he had heard about Rezaul but never met him before.
"I have heard that Rezaul is a politician of clean image… I never got the opportunity to listen to his speech earlier," he said, adding, "Today I heard him speaking for the first time and I am pleased… we need to elect gentlemen as our representatives. I have heard that BNP candidate Shahadat Hossain is also a politician of clean image…so it is going to be a tough contest."
After South Halishahar, Rezaul moved to North Patenga and South Patenga.
The mayoral aspirant told The Daily Star he would campaign in two to three wards every day.