Rain came as a damper for voters, but it’s perhaps a good time for a hot plate of Khichuri, a delicacy for rainy days.
Atiqul Islam, a mayoral candidate chosen by the ruling Awami League, invoked the Bengali food heritage as he urged citizens to exercise their voting right on Thursday.
“Drink hot tea or eat hot, steaming Khichuri and go to the polling centres,” Islam said after casting his own vote in Dhaka.
Voters started heading to the polling stations Thursday morning to elect the mayor of Dhaka North and councillors of 49 wards in both areas of the bifurcated city corporation amid a boycott by most of the parties.
Voting will continue at about 1,700 centres until 4pm on Thursday. But bad weather deterred voters from heading out to the polling centres.
There are about four million voters in these areas. It is a public holiday in the election areas. Traffic will be restricted for 24 hours from Wednesday midnight.
