Mayoral candidate from the ruling Awami League in the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) elections, Selina Hayat Ivy has said that she is certain of her victory in the upcoming poll.

"Many factions have been formed to defeat me. Many are trying to figure out how to defeat me. However, everyone knows my victory is certain," she said at a press conference at her residence in Narayanganj Friday, 14 January.

She also claimed she will win the election by a margin of at least over one lakh votes. She further expressed hope that the elections will be held in a festive manner.

"I would be harmed if incidents of violence take place during the poll. Others may cause problems so that my voters do not come to the centres," when asked about the possibility of violence in the election, Ivy said.

She also denied the allegations of central leaders of the party visiting the poll areas to influence elections.

"They (central leaders) have come from Dhaka to observe the election situation. They are observing if there are any problems. They were never in doubt about my victory," she added.

Since the formation of Narayanganj City Corporation, incumbent mayor Dr Selina Hayat Ivy won the first two elections in 2011 and 2016. Earlier, she was mayor of erstwhile Narayanganj municipality.

The maiden NCC elections were held in a non-partisan manner in 2011.

In 2016, Dr Ivy was reelected as NCC mayor as an AL candidate and the mayoral election was held using party symbols, unlike the councillor elections in the city corporation.

On 30 November last year, the Election Commission announced schedules for the NCC elections.

According to the schedules, the deadline for the submission of nomination papers was 15 December, while the scrutiny of nomination papers was set for 20 December, and the last date for the withdrawal of candidature was 27 December in the NCC elections in this latest round of elections.

The Narayanganj City Corporation elections this year will be held on 16 January (Sunday) using electronic voting machines (EVM) instead of traditional ballot papers.

A total of 148 councillor hopefuls are contesting polls in 27 wards of Narayanganj City Corporation, including nine reserved seats for women councillors. -TBS