Zaida Khatun wins Gazipur mayoral polls

 
Independent candidate Zaida Khatun, the mother of expelled ruling party leader Zahangir Alam, has won the Gazipur mayoral race with a slim margin of 16,203 votes defeating Awami League-nominated candidate Azmat Ullah Khan. Ziada bagged 238,934 votes in 480 centres with the symbol 'table clock', according to unofficial results, while her nearest rival Azmat Ullah Khan, got 222,737 votes with the symbol 'boat'.

Returning officer Md Faridul Islam made the announcement at 1:30am on Friday (26 May).

After casting his own vote, Azmat Ullah seemed confident and told the reporters that he was optimistic about winning this election. On the other hand, Zayeda Khatun said the election was conducted in a fair manner.

Sarker Shahnoor Islam Rony, a BNP supporter who joined the race despite the party's decision to avoid elections under the Awami League government, bagged 23,265 votes. The supporters of both sides gathered outside Bangataz Auditorium, from where the returning officer was announcing the results.

Ahead of poll results, Former Gazipur mayor Zahangir Alam claimed that his mother Zaida Khatun had won the election.

"My mother has won; I got news from all centres," Zahangir said around 7:00pm on Thursday while vote count was underway since the polls wrapped up around 4:00pm.