The 2020 Dhaka South City Corporation election was a local government election held in Dhaka on 1 February 2020 to elect the mayor of South Dhaka and the city council. A total of 6 candidates contested the mayoral race. The result was a victory for the Awami League candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh. In the 100-member city council, the Awami League won 81 seats, while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won 9 seats, and the remaining seats were won by others. However, the results were rejected by the main opposition candidate, Ishraque Hossain of the BNP. This election was marred by violence, and it was not seen as a free, fair, and credible election. In 2024, after the ruling Awami League regime fell, vote rigging by Awami League was confirmed in this election.
It was one of the first major elections in Bangladesh conducted entirely using electronic voting machines (EVMs) alongside the 2020 Dhaka North City Corporation election. Previously the country had made only limited use of EVMs. The ruling party, the Awami League, supported the adoption of EVMs. Leaders of other parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said they feared the machines would be used for vote rigging. One concern expressed was that the machines do not have a voter-verified paper audit trail.
Candidates The election was mainly contested between candidates of the two major political parties in Bangladesh: + List of mayoral candidates PartyFlagSymbolCandidates Bangladesh Awami League Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh Bangladesh Nationalist Party Ishraque Hossain Other minor candidates from smaller parties and independent candidates also participated.
Timeline Poll Event Schedule Official declaration from the Election Commission 22 December 2019 Declaration of the schedule 22 December 2019 Application deadline for candidates 31 December 2019 Scrutiny of nomination 2 January 2020 Last Date for Withdrawal of nomination 9 January 2020 Symbol allocation 10 January 2020 Start of campaign period 10 January 2020 End of campaign period 30 January 2020 Date of Poll 1 February 2020 Date of Counting of Votes 1 February 2020
Mayoral election results +Election ResultsCandidatePartyVotesPercentage+/-Sheikh Fazle Noor TaposhBangladesh Awami League424,59560.76NewIshraque HossainBangladesh Nationalist Party236,51233.84NewAbdur RahmanIslami Andolan Bangladesh26,5253.79NewSaifuddin Ahmen MilonJatiya Party (Ershad)5,5930.80NewBahrane Sultan BaharNational People's Party3,1550.45NewAkhtaruzzaman Alias AyatullahBangladesh Congress2,4210.34NewRejected Ballot12,6781.78-Majority188,083 26.91 +1.64Turnout711,488 29.00 -19.4Total Registered Voters2,453,194-AL Hold
Council election results Party-wise +2020 DSCC council election results (party-wise)PartyLeaderCouncilor contested seatsCouncilor elected in SeatsWard CouncilorsReserved Women Councilors Bangladesh Awami LeagueSheikh Fazle Noor Taposh1006120 Bangladesh Nationalist PartyIshraque Hossain10063 Bangladesh Jatiya PartyDidn't participateunknown10 Independentunknown72Total1007525
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