<div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday urged all to keep fighting against fascists and stop the return of the deposed Awami fascism.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Talking to reporters at the grave of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, he also said&nbsp; the court's order declaring BNP leader Dr Shahadat Hossain as the elected mayor of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) has proved that all elections held under the Awami League regime were rigged and usurped.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We drove the fascists out of the country through a student-led mass uprising. Now, the nation expects that fascism won’t return and that it will be eliminated forever through the united resistance of people,” Fakhrul said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also expressed the hope that future elections will be conducted in a free, fair, and credible manner.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On behalf of BNP and its two top leaders, Fakhrul congratulated Dr Shahadat on his swearing-in as the mayor of Chattogram City Corporation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He claimed that Dr&nbsp; Shahadat was elected mayor by people’s votes in the CCC polls, but the Awami League had unlawfully taken that victory away.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fakhrul expressed gratitude to the court for overturning the rigged election results and declaring Dr Shahadat the rightful winner.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also thanked the interim government for accepting the court's verdict and for swearing in Dr Shahadat today (Sunday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier in the Day, Shahadat Hossain took oath as the mayor of CCC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives, AF Hassan Ariff, administered the swearing-in ceremony in the conference room of the Local Government Division at the Secretariat on Sunday morning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After taking the oath, Dr Shahadat, accompanied by party leaders and workers, including Fakhrul, visited Zia’s grave to pay homage by placing a wreath there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier, on October 1, Joint District and Sessions Judge and Election Tribunal of Chittagong, Mohammad Khairul Amin, declared Dr Shahadat Hossain the mayor in response to a lawsuit regarding the CCC election.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the January 27, 2021, CCC election, Awami League candidate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury was initially declared winner with 369,248 votes, while Dr Shahadat Hossain, the BNP candidate, received 52,489 votes.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, on October 8, the Election Commission announced Dr Shahadat as the winner and published the gazette that same night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>