Both the ruling Awami League and the BNP were struggling to pick  councillor candidates for the January 30 Dhaka north and south city  corporation elections after multiple aspirants collected nomination  forms for each post.

Although the councillor polls would be  non-partisan, the parties were giving much importance on backing the  deserving candidates, who are expected to join the election  campaign for the mayor contenders.

Amid this backdrop, the AL and the BNP are set to announce the names of the mayor and councillor candidates today.

The  situation seems to be more complicated for the AL. On an average, eight  aspirants are seeking the party’s blessing for each councillor post.

For the BNP, the number is three.

Also,  some current councillors from the ruling party have been on the run  since allegations surfaced that they were involved in illegal casino  business and misusing power.

Three other councillors are now behind bars  and at least eight of the councillors were facing investigation by the  Anti-Corruption Commission for various irregularities.

AL  insiders said these councillors have embarrassed the party and that was  why the party’s top leadership was likely to choose candidates with  clean records.

“We will try to finalise a single candidate  for each ward. The most deserving candidates will be chosen,” Mahbubul  Alam Hanif, joint general secretary of the AL, told The Daily Star  yesterday.

He also said no controversial person would get the party’s blessing.

The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has 54 wards while the Dhaka South City Corporation has 75.

A  total of 1,234 councillor aspirants have bought nomination forms from  the AL chief’s Dhanmondi office in the capital, while 476 aspirants from  the BNP collected theirs from the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters.

Talking  to this newspaper yesterday, BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru  Mahmud Chowdhury, said, “We are yet to pick the councillor candidates …  We will try to field a single candidate against each councillor post.”

He  also said the party may not extend its support to candidates in some  wards. “Those may be kept open for all contenders,” he said.  

Sources  in the BNP said three committees, each having seven members, were  formed to finalise the councillor candidates for the two city  corporations.

Those committees were working in coordination with the party’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who is in London now.

BNP  Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday sent letters  to the committee members, asking them to finalise the candidates today.

Party’s  Vice Chairman Mohammad Shahjajan was made chief of the Councillor  Scrutiny Committee for the DNCC, while BNP chairperson’s adviser Abdus  Salam was made chief of the committee for Dhaka south.

The  third committee was formed for picking candidates for the reserved seats  for women. It is being headed by the party’s standing committee member  Selima Rahman.

The BNP-led 20-party alliance has already extended its support to the candidates to be picked today.

BNP  sources said 280 nomination forms were collected from the party office  for the DSCC ward councillor posts and 220 of them were for the general  councillor posts. A total of 196 nomination forms were collected for the  DNCC councillor posts.

Yesterday was the last date for buying nomination forms, while today is the deadline for submitting them.

Talking  about the importance of ward councillors in running city corporations,  experts said the public representatives are considered to be “local  guardians” of city dwellers.

They opined that councillors should be given more power to ensure better services to the people.

Local  government expert Tofail Ahmed said that in the existing system,  councillors have no executive power. To make the city corporations  functional and vibrant, councillors, not the mayors, should be put at  the driving seat.

Former Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain echoed Tofail’s statement.

MAYOR CANDIDATES

The AL and the BNP are set to announce names of their candidates following party meetings today.

BNP  insiders said Tabith Awal was likely to get the party ticket to run for  the DNCC mayor. In the south, it may be Israq Hossain.

But the situation is complex for the AL and it was yet to finalise its candidates until last night.

A  total of 12 mayor aspirants have bought AL nomination forms for  contesting DNCC mayor election while eight for the DSCC mayor.

The  AL will announce the names of its candidates after its meeting of Party  Parliamentary Board for Local Government polls, to be held this evening  at the Gono Bhaban.

Incumbent DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon,  who is seeking a second term, met AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader at  the party president’s Dhanmondi office yesterday. The AL’s  second-in-command asked Khokon to begin election-related activities,  said party sources.

Current DNCC Mayor M Atiqul Islam is likely to get AL nomination for the mayor polls in the city corporation, the sources added.