Chittagong, Oct 09 (V7N)- The Election Commission (EC) has officially declared BNP leader Dr. Shahadat Hossain as the newly elected mayor of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), issuing a revised gazette late Tuesday night. This move follows a ruling by the Chattogram Election Tribunal, which was released on October 1st.

The tribunal nullified the results of the January 27, 2021, CCC elections and declared Dr. Shahadat the rightful winner. In response to the court’s decision, the EC was compelled to issue the revised notification.

EC Secretary Shafiul Azim stated, "Based on the court's ruling, we conducted a legal review and have now released the revised gazette."

The EC’s notice further mentioned that in compliance with the tribunal's order, the election results, which had previously declared Awami League candidate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury as the winner, have been annulled. Dr. Shahadat, who ran under the BNP's "sheaf of paddy" symbol, is now recognized as the legitimate winner. Accordingly, the necessary amendments have been made to the gazette dated January 31, 2021.

Dr. Shahadat had filed a lawsuit on February 24, 2021, challenging the election results, alleging that election officials had manipulated the outcome. He highlighted instances where some polling stations had shown him receiving zero votes, which he termed as "incredible and implausible," further accusing officials of vote rigging.

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