Ivy gets clean team to fulfil polls pledges

Greetings and garlands pour in for the first mayor-elect of Narayanganj city. Photo: Courtesy

The people of Narayanganj have largely rejected the candidates with criminal records in the just concluded city polls, giving mayor-elect Selina Hayat Ivy a relatively clean team to run the corporation.
According to information available of 29 out of 36 councillors-elect, at least 20 have no criminal records whatsoever. One had been accused in two cases that were eventually withdrawn.
The Daily Star found the information after analysing the affidavits posted on the Election Commission's website. Affidavits of seven other councillors were not available yet.
Of the total 36 councillors-elect, 27 have been elected from as many general wards and nine from the wards reserved for women.
In Sunday's election, over 100 candidates with criminal records competed for the 27 councillors' posts in general wards.
Of them, 53 were facing criminal cases during the polls while 59 had faced charges earlier. Only six of the councillors-elect stand accused in criminal cases.
In most instances, the electorate was astute enough to opt for candidates with a clean image.
The victory of such candidates will help Ivy make good on the promises she made during her campaign for the maiden mayoralty of the Narayanganj City Corporation, say observers.
Ivy, who is held in high esteem by the locals irrespective of their political divide, had pledged to fight against crimes and corruption.
Her resounding win shows that her promises resonated with the voters. They did not ring hollow because of her impressive track record in running city affairs as mayor of the now-defunct Narayanganj municipality.
Her eight-year stint as mayor never smacked of corruption, nepotism and hooliganism.
The public rallied behind her to hand a humiliating drubbing to Shamim, a former AL lawmaker alleged to have links with the city's organised crime.
As the first mayor of the NCC, Ivy, also vice-president of Narayanganj city AL, will lead the corporation for the next five years.
POLITICAL AFFILIATION
The results of the 27 general wards show that grassroots level leaders and activists of AL won 12 councillors' posts, their rival BNP leaders bagged five, Jatiya Party one and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal one. Eight of the councillors ran in the polls independently.
The younger brother of BNP-backed mayoral candidate Taimur Alam Khandaker, who opted out of the mayoral race hours before voting opened, has been elected a councillor. Maqsudul Alam Khandaker Khorshed won in ward No.13.
The party affiliations of seven councillors-elect from the wards reserved for women are yet to be known.
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Of the 27 councillors-elect whose affidavits are available on the EC website, seven are literate; four studied up to HSC; three up to SSC; one up to class nine; and five up to class eight. Three describe themselves as self-educated, two as graduates and one as post-graduate. One did not cite her educational qualification.