Lutfur-Farhad of Bangladeshi origin can make history in East London

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Local government elections in the United Kingdom. This election is going to be held in 136 local institutions across the UK. In addition to thousands of councilor posts, votes will also be taken for a few directly elected mayor posts. In this year’s election, the Bangladeshi-dominated Tower Hamlets and Newham councils in East London have generated extra curiosity. Because, the two main candidates Lutfur Rahman and Farhad Hossain, who are ahead of the possibility of winning the mayor’s office in both of the 4 boroughs with executive power in London’s 32 boroughs, are of Bangladeshi origin.

Especially the leadership of Tower Hamlets is in the hands of Bangladeshis, it is certain. The main contest in this borough is between Aspire Party candidate and current Executive Mayor Lutfur Rahman and Labor Party candidate Sirajul Islam. Both are of Bangladeshi origin. So whatever the outcome of the election, the leadership of the borough is likely to be in the hands of Bangladeshis again. There are two more candidates of Bangladeshi origin for the mayoral post. They are Mohammad Abdul Hannan of the Liberal Democratic Party and Jami Ali of Tower Hamlets Independent.

Aspire Party led by current Mayor Lutfur Rahman is active in the electoral field relying on strong Trinamool network and Bangladeshi vote bank. Lutfur Rahman was elected mayor three times. Each time he defeated the Labor Party and won. He is being kept ahead in various election analysis and surveys. Lutfur is in the lead in Tower Hamlets, according to a poll by UK polling firm YouGov. If he wins this time, it will be his fourth consecutive victory against the challenges of major political parties.

On the other hand, the Labor Party is trying to recapture the Tower Hamlets borough by putting forward Sirajul Islam, who has been elected for seven consecutive terms since 2001. There is discussion in the local political circles that the party has planned its election strategy targeting Bangladeshi voters.

Newham Council is also in special talks this election. The council has always been under the control of the Labor Party since the borough’s creation in 1965. Farhad Hossain has been nominated for the post of mayor from that party. If he wins, he will make history as the first Bangladeshi executive mayor nominated by a major UK mainstream political party.

While other mainstream political parties are not in a very favorable position in this multiracial borough, the Green Party has posed some challenge. Especially Green Party’s Bangladeshi-born mayoral candidate Arik Chowdhury is in discussion in the election campaign. But according to all pre-election polls and political analysts, Farhad Hossain is ahead. Whichever candidate wins, the leadership of Newham is also likely to go to a politician of Bangladeshi origin.

Tomorrow, Thursday, voting will be held continuously from 7 am to 10 pm local time. Votes will be taken through a total of 110 polling stations at 76 centers in Tower Hamlets. Here more than two lakh voters will elect their leadership for the next four years.

Similarly, polling will be held at hundreds of polling stations and polling stations in Newham Council. Around two and a half lakh voters are expected to exercise their right to vote there.

It should be noted that in addition to the post of mayor, more than three hundred candidates of Bangladeshi origin are competing for the post of councilors in the four councils of East London-Tower Hamlets, Newham, Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham. Along with the mainstream political parties, they participated in the elections as various regional platforms and independent candidates. As a result, the British-Bangladeshi community’s political influence has come under discussion in this election.