The 2021 Chattogram City Corporation election was a local government election in the city of Chattogram, Bangladesh, held on 27 January 2021 to elect the Mayor of Chittagong and the Chittagong City Council. The election resulted in a victory for the Awami League candidate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury. In the 55 member City Council, the Awami League won 42 seats, while the Independents won 13 seats. However, the results were rejected by the main opposition candidate, Dr. Shahadat Hossain of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. This election was marred by violence and it was not seen as a free, fair and credible election. Later in 2024, after ruling Awami League regime fell, vote rigging by Awami League was confirmed in this election.
Background The Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) is the governing body responsible for the administration of Chattogram, the second-largest city in Bangladesh. The term of the previous mayor, A. J. M. Nasir Uddin, elected in 2015, ended in 2020. The election was originally scheduled to take place in March 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campaign The 2021 Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) election featured major political parties focusing on urban governance, port-city infrastructure, and long-standing civic problems. Key themes included waterlogging, traffic congestion, corruption allegations, waste management, and improvement of basic municipal services.
Awami League The ruling Bangladesh Awami League nominated Rezaul Karim Chowdhury as its mayoral candidate. His campaign highlighted commitments to resolving the chronic waterlogging problem through canal restoration projects, expansion of drainage networks, and coordination with the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA). Rezaul also pledged improved road repairs, digitalization of civic services, efficient waste collection, and strong measures to curb corruption in municipal contracting.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party nominated Dr. Shahadat Hossain as its mayoral candidate. Shahadat's campaign emphasized mismanagement, irregularities, and corruption allegations within the previous CCC administration. He promised transparent city governance, modern waste-management systems, proper maintenance of roads and footpaths, and solutions to traffic congestion and disorderly urban growth. His manifesto also focused on public health, dengue prevention, clean water supply, and restoring public trust in municipal operations.
Other issues Residents across Chattogram raised a number of recurring concerns, including: severe waterlogging during monsoon due to clogged drains and encroached canals chronic traffic congestion in key commercial corridors irregular waste collection and lack of modern disposal facilities damaged roads, footpaths, and poor street lighting in many wards environmental degradation, hill-cutting, and loss of open spaces lack of coordination between CCC, CDA, and WDB, causing delays in major projects
Election environment Voting was held using Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in all centers. National observers noted a generally peaceful environment, although turnout remained modest. Public concerns over service delivery, transparency, and infrastructure sustainability heavily shaped the overall campaign narrative.
Candidates The election was mainly contested between candidates of the two major political parties in Bangladesh: + List of mayoral candidates PartyFlagSymbolCandidates Bangladesh Awami League Rezaul Karim Chowdhury Bangladesh Nationalist Party Dr. Shahadat Hossain Other minor candidates from smaller parties and independent candidates also participated.
Ward Bangladesh Awami League Bangladesh Nationalist Party 1 South Pahartali Gazi Md. Shafiul Azim Sirajul Islam Rashed 2 Jalalabad Mohammad Ibrahim Md. Yakub Chowdhury 3 Panchlaish Kofil Uddin Khan Mohammad Elias 4 Chandgaon Md. Saifuddin Khaled Mahabubul Alam 5 Mohra Mohammad Kazi Nurul Amin Mohammad Azam 6 East Sholashahar M Ashraful Alam Hasan Liton 7 West Sholashahar Md. Mobarak Ali Iskandar Mirza 8 Sholokbahar Md. Morshed Alam Hasan Chowdhury 9 North Pahartali Nurul Absar Mia Abdus Sattar Salim 10 North Kattali Nishar Uddin Ahmed Rafiq Uddin Chowdhury 11 South Kattali Mohammad Ismail Sohrab Hossain Chowdhury 12 Saraipara Md. Nurul Amin Shamsul Alam 13 Pahartali Md. Wasim Uddin Chowdhury Jahangir Alam Dulal 14 Lalkhan Bazar Abul Hasnat Md. Belal Abdul Halim 15 Bagmaniram Mohammad Gias Uddin Chowdhury Saifuddin Rashed Siddiqui 16 Chawkbazar Syed Golam Haider Mintu AKM Salahuddin Kausar Labu 17 West Bakalia Mohammad Shahidul Alam AKM Ariful Islam 18 East Bakalia Mohammad Harun or Rashid Mohammad Mohiuddin 19 South Bakalia Md. Nurul Alam Yasin Chowdhury 20 Dewan Bazar Chowdhury Hasan Mahmud Hasni Hafizul Islam Majumdar Milon 21 Jamal khan Shaibal Das Sumon Abu Md. Mohsin Chowdhury 22 Enayet Bazar Mohammad Salim Ullah M.A. Malek 23 North Pathantooly Mohammad Javed Mohammad Mohsin 24 North Agrabad Nazmul Haque Duke SM Faridul Alam 25 Rampur Abdus Sabur Liton Shahid Md. Chowdhury 26 North Halishahar Mohammad Hossain Md. Abul Hashem 27 South Agrabad Md. Sheikh Zafrul Haider Chowdhury Mohammad Sekandar 28 Pathantooly Nazrul Islam Bahadur SM Jamal Uddin Jasim 29 West Madarbari Golam Mohammad Zobair Md. Salah Uddin 30 East Madarbari Ataullah Chowdhury Habibur Rahman 31 Alkaran Md. Abdus Salam Didarur Rahman Labu 32 Andarkilla Jahar Lal Hazari Syed Abul Basar 33 Firingee Bazar Mohammad Salahuddin Aktar Khan 34 Patharghata Pulak Khastagir Ismail Bali 35 Boxirhat Haji Nurul Haque Advocate Tariq Ahmad 36 Gosaildanga Jahangir Alam Chowdhury Mohammad Harun (Doc) 37 North Middle Halishahar Md. Hossain Murad Mohammad Osman 38 South Middle Halishahar Golam Md. Chowdhury Hanif Saudagar 39 South Halishahar Ziaul Haque Sumon Sarfraz Quader 40 North Patenga Abdul Barek Mohammad Harun 41 South Patenga Saleh Ahmad Chowdhury Md. Nurul Afshar Reserved Women's Councillor 42 Reserved women's seat-1 Syeda Kashpia Nahrin Roksana Begum 43 Reserved women's seat-2 Zobaira Nargis Khan Shahenewaz Chowdhury Minu 44 Reserved women's seat-3 Zohra Begum Jinnatun Nesha Jinu 45 Reserved women's seat-4 Tashlima Begum Nurjahan Sakina Begum 46 Reserved women's seat-5 Shiuli Dey Monoara Begum Moni 47 Reserved women's seat-6 Shaheen Akhtar Rozi Mahmuda Sultana Jharna 48 Reserved women's seat-7 Rumki Sengupta Advocate Parveen Akhter Chowdhury 49 Reserved women's seat-8 Neelu Nag Arjun Nahar Manna 50 Reserved women's seat-9 Noor Akhtar Prama Khaleda Borhan 51 Reserved women's seat-10 Hoore Ara Begum Jasmina Khanom 52 Reserved women's seat-11 Jinnat Ara Begum Kamrun Nahar Liza 53 Reserved women's seat-12 Afroza Zahoor Sahida Khanom 54 Reserved women's seat-13 Lutfunnesa Dobash Baby Monoara Begum 55 Reserved women's seat-14 Shahanur Begum Zahida Hossain
Timeline Poll Event Schedule Official declaration from the Election Commission 14 December 2020 Declaration of the schedule 14 December 2020 Application deadline for candidates 30 December 2020 Scrutiny of nomination 2 January 2021 Last date for withdrawal of nomination 7 January 2021 Symbol allocation 8 January 2021 Start of campaign period 8 January 2021 End of campaign period 25 January 2021 Date of poll 27 January 2021 Date of counting of votes 27 January 2021
Electoral system The election was conducted using electronic voting machines (EVMs) in all 735 polling stations in the city. Around 1.92 million voters were registered to cast their vote. This was one of the first large-scale uses of EVMs in local elections in Bangladesh, a move that was both praised and criticized by various political parties.
The corporation area is divided into 41 wards. The corporation elects: Mayor, directly elected by the voters of Chattogram. 41 Ward Councillors, one from each ward, elected directly. 14 Reserved Women Councillors, elected from groups of three wards.
Mayoral election results The results were announced later in the evening on 27 January 2021. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, the Awami League candidate, won the mayoral race by a wide margin, receiving approximately 369,248 votes, while Shahadat Hossain of the BNP garnered 52,489 votes.
Rezaul Karim Chowdhury succeeded A. J. M. Nasir Uddin as mayor of Chattogram. The Awami League also secured the majority of the councilor positions in the 41 wards of the Chattogram City Corporation.
Council election results Party-wise +2021 CCC council election results (party-wise)Party LeaderCouncilor contested seatsCouncilor elected in SeatsWard CouncilorsReserved Women CouncilorsBangladesh Awami LeagueRezaul Karim Chowdhury55339 Independentunknown85Total554114
Violence The election day was marked by reports of violence in multiple wards across the city. Several clashes were reported between supporters of the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP. In one such incident, a polling agent of a BNP-backed councilor candidate was killed, prompting further criticism of the law enforcement agencies and the fairness of the electoral process.
According to local media reports, around 20 people were injured in election-related violence, and allegations of vote rigging and irregularities were rampant. Despite these issues, the Election Commission of Bangladesh declared the election successful and largely peaceful.
Aftermath and Reactions After the Chattogram City Corporation Election of 2021, reactions were deeply divided. The ruling party, the Awami League (AL), celebrated the victory of their candidate, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury. They claimed that the election had been conducted fairly and that the result represented the will of the people of Chattogram. Rezaul Karim, in his post-election statements, promised to continue the development projects started by the previous mayor, A. J. M. Nasir Uddin.
On the other hand, the opposition, particularly the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), rejected the election results outright. They accused the Awami League of voter suppression, vote rigging, and using law enforcement to intimidate opposition supporters. Shahadat Hossain, the BNP candidate, demanded an investigation into the alleged irregularities and called for the election results to be annulled. The BNP also organized protests, claiming that the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) had made it easier to manipulate the results in favor of the ruling party. Shahadat Hossain's call for investigation was rejected and Rezaul Karim Chowdhury was sworn in as the 6th Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation on 11 February 2021. Rezaul Karim couldn't fulfill his term as Sheikh Hasina's regime fell in 2024 amid mass protests. On 19 August, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, along with the mayors of other city corporations, was removed from his position and replaced by the Divisional Commissioners.
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