Awami League nominated mayoral candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque has unofficially won in Khulna City Corporation election.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque with ‘Boat’ symbol secured 1,54,825 votes while his rival Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s backed candidate Moulana Abdul Awal with ‘Hand fan’ symbol got 60,064 votes.

Returning Officer (RO) Md. Alauddin announced the unofficial results tonight (Monday) after counting votes of all 289 polling centres at the District Shilpokola Academy Auditorium control room in the city.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque bagged 1,54,825 votes with his party's symbol of 'Boat' while his nearest rival candidate Moulana Abdul Awal got 60,064 votes with the symbol of 'Hand fan'.

"A total of 2,56,433 voters, out of 5,35,522, exercised their franchise in the KCC polls and the percentage of casting votes was around 47.89," the RO added.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque also won in 2008 and 2018 respectively.

Earlier, voting in Khulna City Corporation election began on Monday using electronic voting machines (EVMs) in 126 polling centres in a peaceful manner sans sporadic incidents.

The voting began around 8 am and continued till 4 pm without any break.

Five candidates contested for mayoral posts in the election and there are 136 councillors and 39 female councilor candidates.