Only a day to go before the elections, the campaign camp of Awami League candidate Ilias Uddin Mollah yesterday was almost deserted as the runner was expected to win warding off the halfhearted challenge from fresh faces. Photo: Palash Khan

The people of the posh constituency of Gulshan-Cantonment (Dhaka-17) are in a dilemma about whether to vote and who to vote for tomorrow since Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad has quit the race and there are three new faces on the ballot paper.
The ruling Awami League did not nominate a candidate for the constituency and left it for Ershad, who had won there in 2008 election.
Jatiya Party (Manju) candidate Abdul Latif Mallick, newly floated Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) runner SM Abul Kalam Azad, and independent MA Hannan Mridha are vying for the parliament seat.
But the runners seemed to have failed to create enthusiasm among voters.
"What we had known about electioneering is completely absent here. Only posters of candidates were hung in the area but no other form of campaigning is visible. The residents also seem not interested in talking about the elections," said Walid Rahman who works in Gulshan.
The Daily Star reporter in some areas of the constituency found only a few posters on road sides. This was the opposite of the usual in a constituency that witnesses a high-voltage battle of political heavyweights.
The election mood of city dwellers was the same across the capital. Many city dwellers said they were unhappy with so many contestants getting elected unopposed and that they would not vote. Some said they would only go to the polling centres if there were no violence.
Of the total 15 constituencies in Dhaka city, seven candidates were declared elected unopposed, depriving almost half of the electorate from their right to elect their representatives.
In the seven other constituencies, excluding Dhaka-17, three might see some competition thanks largely to rebel candidates of the ruling AL who are challenging their party nominees.
In Dhaka-7 (Lalbagh, Chawkbazar, Kotwali and Bangshal), AL dissident Haji Selim as an independent candidate is challenging AL nominated Mostofa Jalal Mohiuddin, an incumbent lawmaker.
Similarly, Awlad Hossain, who was the assistant personal secretary of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina when she was an opposition leader, is competing against Jatiya Party-nominated Syed Abu Hossain in Dhaka-4 (Shyampur and Jurain).
Awlad was expelled from Awami League for standing in the constituency the party had decided to leave for the Jatiya Party presidium member Syed.
In Dhaka-15 (Mirpur and Pallabi), AL nominated Kamal Ahmed Majumder is contesting party rebel Ekhlas Mollah, who joined the party before the 2008 elections.
In Dhaka-5, 6, 16, and 18, AL and JP nominated candidates are contesting the candidates from newly floated BNF, Bangladesh Torikot Federation and Bangladesh National Awami Party, and independents.
The AL nominated candidates who have been declared elected unopposed are Saber Hossain Chowdhury in Dhaka-9, Fazle Nur Taposh in Dhaka-10, AKM Rahmatullah in Dhaka-11, Asaduzzaman Khan in Dhaka-12, Jahangir Kabir Nanak in Dhaka-13 and Aslamul Haque in Dhaka-14.
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon was also elected unopposed in Dhaka-8.