Cumilla: Independent candidate Atikul Alam Shawon has emerged victorious in the Cumilla-7 seat during the 13th national election, winning by a substantial margin. Shawon, who contested with the ‘Pitcher’ symbol, garnered a total of 90,819 votes. This result was confirmed by Assistant Returning Officer and Chandina Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Ashraful Haque at 11:45 pm on Thursday.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Shawon’s closest competitor, Dr. Redwan Ahmed, the BNP-nominated candidate running with the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ symbol, secured 47,925 votes. Other candidates in the fray included Maulana Solaiman Khan of Khelafat Majlish with 24,597 votes on the ‘Wall Clock’ symbol, Maulana Ehteshamul Haq Qasemi of Islami Andolan Bangladesh with 14,080 votes on the ‘Hand Fan’ symbol, and Sajol Kumar Kar of the Cultural Liberation Alliance, who received 259 votes on the ‘Stick’ symbol.
In total, 182,274 votes were cast in the constituency, marking a turnout of 56.35 percent from the 329,166 registered voters. After accounting for 4,594 invalid votes, the number of valid votes counted stood at 177,680. The District Returning Officer, Mu. Reza Hasan, is expected to announce the unofficial results, including postal votes, of the elected MPs on Friday.