Increase campaign hours, seize illegal arms

Mayoral candidates Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran and Ariful Haque Chowdhury at a meeting yesterday demanded increasing electoral campaign hours and conducting drives against illegal arms respectively.
Addressing the meeting with officials of the regional Election Commission at the Sylhet Zila Parishad auditorium, Kamran said the existing hours, from 2:00pm to 9:00pm, were insufficient.
The Awami League Sylhet city unit president also demanded that provisions be changed to let each candidate set up nine campaign offices, one per three wards, from the existing six, one per police station. The EC shut two of Kamran's unapproved campaign offices in wards six and 19 on Sunday night.
Ariful said illegal arms must be seized so as to prevent their use in the June 15 Sylhet City Corporation election and activists of the pro-ruling party student organisation who recently unleashed violence in the city should be immediately arrested.
During election campaigns yesterday, Kamran accused Ariful of spreading falsehood against him and misleading people.
“I do not need certificates from anybody. My past activities would help the city dwellers understand the reality,” said the outgoing mayor.
Ariful, in his campaigns, said no major development project was implemented and corruption had spread during the past mayor's tenure. Development projects undertaken by the BNP-led alliance government were halted while the mayor's men grabbed lands, added the BNP Central Committee member.
BBC is scheduled to hold a dialogue among the three mayoral aspirants in the Jalalabad Gas auditorium today.