Local Government Advisor Asif Mahmud criticized the practice of appointing election-losing candidates as mayors through court verdicts, calling it an endorsement of rigged elections under Sheikh Hasina’s rule. Citing the cases of BNP candidates Shahadat Hossain and Ishraq Hossain, Mahmud urged political parties to refrain from legitimizing such elections. He clarified that they were not official parties to the lawsuits.