Slum dwellers lured by money

Both the mayoral frontrunners have adopted a new strategy for dishing out money to lower income earners in the city to buy votes.
Locals complained that campaign workers of both Awami League favourite Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran and BNP-backed Ariful Haque Chowdhury have distributed money to slum owners instead of slum dwellers to keep it secret.
An elderly slum dweller in Kalapara area said, ''In the past campaign workers used to dole out money directly in slums. But this year our slum owner has given me Tk500 to cast my vote for his favourite candidate."
The amount paid to each voter ranged between Tk500 and Tk1000.
Slum dwellers are considered a key factor in deciding candidates' fate in the polls to Sylhet City Corporation (SCC). There are around 65,000 voters in 1,037 slums in the city, said SCC Chief Engineer Nur Azizur Rahman.
Talking to The Daily Star on Thursday, both Kamran and Arif made allegations against each other over dishing out money to buy votes.
Yesterday, the two mayor hopefuls offered their Juma prayers at mosques near their residences in the city.
Kamran then went to his election office and spent some time there. Arif, however, offered prayers at the graves of his parents and talked to his workers at his residence.
Arif before midnight on Thursday made a written complaint to the Sylhet police commissioner demanding special security measures at 20 polling centres. He feared that his rivals might rig the election process there.
Also by then, Kamran lodged a complaint with the Election Commission saying that Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan) has waged a “misleading campaign” against him through issuing statements and holding press conferences. He appealed to the EC to stop the civil society platform from carrying out such activities.