Zayeda Khatun won Gazipur election due to four reasons
When Zayeda Khatun collected the nomination papers to be a candidate in the Gazipur elections, many did not give importance to the matter. She was known as 'Jahangir's mother'. It was well known that the complicated equations of elections were completely unknown to Zayda Khatun. The scenario changed slightly when former mayor Jahangir Alam's nomination papers were cancelled. In this election without an opposition party, Zayeda Khatun has become a competitor in front of the Awami League candidate.
Absence of BNP
One of the biggest reasons behind the victory of Zayda Khatun in this election was the non-participation of the main opposition party BNP.
Azmat Ullah was the candidate supported by Awami League when the city corporation election was held in Gazipur for the first time in 2013. In Seva, he lost to opposition party alliance-backed candidate MA Mannan by a margin of over 100,000 votes. About 64 percent of the total voters voted in that election.
Then in 2018, Awami League supported candidate Jahangir Alam won the second election of Gazipur City. There were allegations of widespread irregularities and rigging in that election.
Awami League workers-supporters occupied the polling station and filled the ballot boxes on behalf of Jahangir Alam with the help of the police. This information came out five years ago in the report of BBC Bengal.
Talking to various people in Gazipur, the situation could have been different if BNP had participated in this election. Even though BNP did not participate in the election, they wanted the defeat of the Awami League candidate.
BNP leaders believe that since BNP did not support any candidate in this election, it was only Awami League's own 'vote sharing'.
Many also think that, along with this division, the votes of a section of BNP supporters went in favor of Zayda Khatun.
Abu Bakar Siddique, Acting Joint General Secretary of Gazipur Ward, said, "BNP has a record of winning with huge votes in the first election of Gazipur City. Had there been a BNP-backed candidate in this election, the result of this election would definitely have been different.”
About 49 percent of total voters voted in this election of Gazipur. That is, more than half of the voters refrained from voting.
