Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - All eyes are now on Narayanganj as the country's newly-formed city corporation goes for voting on Sunday amid tight security.
The Election Commission (EC) has made all sorts of preparation, including sending necessary equipment like ballot boxes and electronic voting machines (EVMs) to the polling centres.
Through the elections, the country will get a mayor and councillors of its seventh city corporation. A total of six candidates will be contesting for the mayoral post and 250 other aspirants for the post of councillors.
Over 430,000 people are expected to cast their votes to elect administrators of the city corporation through over 1,500 voting booths set up by the EC in 27 Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) wards.
Panic-stricken voters have sought foolproof security arrangements from the authorities so that they can exercise their voting right peacefully.
The EC has identified 126 polling centres as vulnerable to violence where tight security measures were taken, Returning Officer of Narayanganj Biswas Lutfur Rahman said, adding that voters will exercise their freedom of franchise through EVMs at 58 centres.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), at a press conference in Narayanganj on Saturday, reassured people about their security and urged voters to exercise their franchise.
The polling centres, which open at 8 a.m., will close at 4:00 p.m (local time).
BBN/SSR/AD-30Oct11-12:43 am (BST)