Dhaka-17 by-election: Awami League’s Mohammad A Arafat wins by a huge margin
Mohammad A Arafat secured 28,816 votes while his nearest contender Hero Alom got 5,609
Mohammad A Arafat, ruling Awami League-nominated Member of Parliament (MP) secured victory in the Dhaka-17 by-polls by a huge margin.
Returning Officer Monir Hossain Khan announced the unofficial result on Monday (July 17) evening.
Mohammad A Arafat received 28,816 votes. And his closest rival Ashraful Hossen Alom (ektara), better known as “Hero Alom”, an independent candidate contesting Dhaka-17 by-election received 5,609 votes.
The voter turnout was 11.51 percent. A total of 37,420 votes were cast in the election, of them, 383 votes were declared illegal.
Earlier in the morning, Mohammad A Arafat said he was confident of securing victory after casting his vote at a polling centre in Dhaka’s Gulshan at around 11:10am on Monday.
The voting ended at 4pm on Monday, and concerned authorities informed no untoward incidents were reported.
However, Hero Alom, was subjected to a physical assault in Dhaka’s Banani area. Mohammad A Arafat, at a briefing at his election office, condemned the attack and demanded exemplary punishment against those miscreants who were involved in assaulting Hero Alam.
Election Commissioner Md Alamgir assures action will be taken against those involved in physically assaulting Hero Alom.
A total of eight MP candidates contested in the by-eelction. The candidates are Mohammad Arafat (Boat), Ashraful Hossen Alom alias Hero Alom (Ektara), Rezaul Islam Swapan (Green Coconut), Mohammad Akhter Hossain (Chari) and Tarikul Islam Bhuiyan (Truck), Major (retd) Sikder Anisur Rahman (Plough), Kazi Md Rashedul Hassan Rashed (Rose), Major (retd) Sheikh Habibur Rahman (Sonali Aash).
The number of voters is 325,205 under 125 polling stations in the Dhaka-17 constituency that comprises wards 15,18,19 and 20 of Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka cantonment area as well.
The Dhaka-17 constituency, consisting of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, and a portion of the Dhaka Cantonment, following the death of actor Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque fell vacant. It holds the distinction of being the most affluent constituency in Dhaka city.
