Voting for Chittagong District Lawyers Association election is going on with enthusiasm. Voting started from 9 am on Sunday in the auditorium of the association. Voters are happy to vote fairly.

Against a total of 21 posts, including president, general secretary, there are 42 candidates for the Awami League-backed Lawyers Coordination Parishad and BNP-Jamaat-backed Oikya Parishad in this election. There are glimpses of a close fight between the two panels. Candidates from both the panels are hopeful of winning.

Chief Election Commissioner Ratan Kumar Roy told Prothom Alo today that polling has started with enthusiasm. It will continue till 4 pm. This time there are 5 thousand 197 voters. 1 thousand 500 votes have been received till 12:30 pm. Lawyers are busy with professional work till noon. After that the number of voters may increase.

Around the vote, the mood of the festival is going on in the court premises since morning. Candidates and their well-wishers are standing in front of the auditorium of the association. They are trying to win the hearts of the voters at the last minute.

Reacting after voting this afternoon, senior lawyer of Chittagong Mohammad Jahangir Alam told Prothom Alo, “It is a great pleasure to be able to vote.” Nowhere else is there an environment to vote for a candidate of one’s choice freely except in the bar elections. I don’t remember whether I voted in the last 15 years in the national and regional elections.

New voter Jahedul Islam is happy to vote. He told Prothom Alo that I have voted for the preferred candidates. This cannot be interpreted as joy.

In this election, 42 people from two panels are competing for 21 posts including president, editor. Apart from the Combined Lawyers Coordination Council and Lawyers Unity Council, no other panel has given any candidate this time. There is not even an independent candidate this time. The association has 10 editorial posts and 11 executive membership posts.

20 people in the editorial position and 22 people in the executive member position. Mantosh Barua and candidate of Oikya Parishad are contesting as the president of the coordination council. Nazim Uddin Chowdhury. ASM Bazlur Rashid is the candidate of coordination for the post of general secretary and Muhammad Hasan Ali Chowdhury is the candidate of Oikya. Mohammad Imran of Coordination and Mohammad Kashem Kamal of Oikya as joint general secretary.

Awami League-backed Lawyers Coordinating Council won 10 positions including president and general secretary in the elections held in February last year. The BNP-Jamaat-backed Oikya Parishad won 9 seats, including the vice-president. Abu Mohammad Hashem was elected president from the coordination council in the election. AHM Ziauddin was elected general secretary from the same council.