Rangamati: Awami League mayoral contender Md Zafar Ali Khan was elected unofficially in Baghaichhari municipality here on Saturday.

Ruling party candidate Zafar won the mayoral post bagging 3,798 votes, while his nearest rival independent candidate M Azizur Rahman polled 2,227 votes, and BNP mayoral contestant Md Omar Ali only 1,798.

Returning officer Md Nazim Uddin declared the ruling party’s mayoral candidate elected unofficially.

The mayoral post election was held along the party line unlike that of council and reserved seats.

The voter turn out was 78.63 percent in the election, said Director (Public Relations) of Election Commission Secretariat SM Asaduzzman.  

He said, “Some 8,002 voters, out of 10,177, exercised their franchise.” 

Earlier, the voting was peacefully held from 8:00am to 4:00pm without any break amid tight security.

Baghaichhari municipality is the first election conducted by the newly-formed Election Commission that will oversee the 11th parliamentary elections to be held in 2019. On February 15, former secretary KM Nurul Huda sworn in as the Chief Election Commissioner, while former additional secretary Mahbub Talukder, former secretary Rafiqul Islam, former district judge Kabita Khanam and retired Brigadier General Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury as election commissioners.