Jamalpur DC urges people to re-elect AL
Video clip of his speech at local event goes viral
Violating service rules, the Jamalpur deputy commissioner has called upon people to elect the ruling Awami League in the next general election.
"The incumbent government must be in state power again to continue the development work. This will be the commitment of us all," said DC Md Imran Ahmed.
He made the comments while speaking as the special guest at the inauguration ceremony of a newly constructed building of Madarganj municipality on Monday.
Local AL lawmaker Mirza Azam, also organising secretary of the party's central committee, was present there as the chief guest.
"I hope the chief guest of today's programme will be a minister after the next polls and will do huge development work in this district," said the DC.
A day later, a video clip of the DC's speech went viral on social media.
Imran, who was a deputy secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division, was made Jamalpur DC on July 24 this year.
As per the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, "No government servant shall canvass or otherwise interfere or use his influence in connection with or take part in any election to a legislative body, whether in Bangladesh or elsewhere."
This correspondent could not communicate with DC Imran over the phone and via WhatsApp for comments.
Azam's younger brother Mirza Kabir, also the mayor of Madarganj municipality, chaired the function where Md Kamruzzaman, superintendent of Jamalpur police, and several other AL leaders also spoke.
Last month, Shyamal Chandra Dhar, officer-in-charge of Dewanganj Model Police Station in the district, was withdrawn for seeking votes for "boat", AL's electoral symbol, in the upcoming general election.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain yesterday said the DC's statements were inappropriate in the lead-up to the upcoming election, reports UNB.
"We will thoroughly investigate the DC's comments regarding the election. It is inappropriate for a DC to make such declarations with elections on the horizon, these officials receive training to uphold neutrality," said the minister while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.
"Nevertheless, it is essential to ascertain whether the speech was manipulated or distorted and subsequently propagated. In this era of artificial intelligence, speeches can be tampered with. The government will initiate appropriate action upon a comprehensive examination of the DC's statement, should it be found to be genuine," he added.