Zayeda Khatun, mother of former mayor (dismissed) Mohammad Jahangir Alam, received her electoral symbol to contest the mayor post in the upcoming Gazipur City Corporation, following the rejection of her son from the race due to allegations of loan default.

Zayeda will contest as an independent candidate, although observers say she will have the full-backing of her son's supporters.

She said, "I will complete the works started by my son Jahangir. Staying by his side I now know the inner workings of the job and will be able to take on the role of the mayor if elected 

Earlier, Zayeda also said, "I want to demonstrate the depth of support and love the people of Ward 57 have for me through their votes. I will fight till the end for my son."

She was allocated the "table clock" symbol on Tuesday.

Following the Gazipur City Corporation election schedule, symbol allocation among the candidates of all the posts started from 10am today in Bangataj Auditorium of the city. Gazipur City Corporation Election Returning Officer Md Faridul Islam allocated symbols among eight candidates for the mayor post.

A total of five political party backed candidates were given respective party symbols for contesting for the mayoral post.

Among them are Awami League nominated candidate Advocate Azmat Ulla Khan, Jatiya Party nominated candidate MM Niaz Uddin, Gano Front supported candidate Atiqul Islam, Islami Andolan Bangladesh nominated candidate Gazi Ataur Rahman, and Zaker Party nominated candidate Raju Ahmed.

Among the three independent candidates, former mayor of Gazipur City Corporation (dismissed) Mohammad Jahangir Alam's mother Zayeda Khatun got the clock symbol, jailed BNP leader Nurul Islam Sarkar's son Sarkar Shah Nur Islam Roni got the elephant symbol and Md Haroon-ur Rasheed received the horse symbol.

Besides, 239 candidates will contest for the post of general councilor, and 77 candidates will contest for reserved seats.

Returning officer Faridul Islam requested all the candidates to follow the electoral code of conduct.

Gazipur City Corporation election will be held on 25 May.

Jahangir Alam was suspended from the post of mayor in November 2021 on charges of corruption, abuse of power and mismanagement. He was also expelled from the Awami League for breaking party discipline.

However, Jahangir was reinstated to the party in January this year, subject to conditions.

Jahangir Alam sought an Awami League nomination to be a candidate for the post of mayor in the Gazipur city elections. However, the party nominated Metropolitan Awami League President Azmat Ullah Khan.

The former Gazipur city mayor submitted his nomination papers on 27 April to run for the post again as an independent candidate.

However, his nomination papers were rejected on 30 April on the grounds of him being a loan defaulter. Later he appealed against the Election Commission's decision. However, the appeal authorities on 4 May rejected his appeal.

Jahangir on Tuesday said, "To save garments, to protect the jobs of garment workers, I have supported an organisation with my land for humanitarian reasons. Because of which today I am called a loan defaulter. Six others who were accused in the same allegations were given nominations for the post of councillor despite having CIB negative reports. But I did not get justice even when I went to the High Court."

He also said that the election will not be fair by the Election Commission being neutral alone, the election, everyone must be neutral.

He urged everyone including law enforcement, administration to make the election fair.