2022 Rangpur City Corporation election

The 2022 Rangpur City Corporation election was a Bangladeshi local governmental election held on 27 December 2022. The City Corporation elections are held every five years, and this was the third of its kind in Rangpur. The mayor and 44 councilors of the corporation were elected in this election. A total of 9 candidates contested in the mayoral election, and other 246 contesting for general councils and reserved (women) seats. Jatiya Party's Mostafizar Rahman Mostafa held the mayoral post by winning in a huge margin with ruling Awami League's candidate landing as fourth.

Prior to the election, Rangpur was the only city held by the Jatiya Party (Ershad), the main opposition party in the Jatiya Sangsad. It was also one of the two city corporations which was held by other parties except Awami League. According to political analysts, the elections held significance for the Awami League-government and the newly formed Election Commission under Kazi Habibul Awwal- because election commissions under the government is accused by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of being a 'puppet commission' of the government to turn Bangladesh into a de facto one-party state under Awami League. As Cumilla City Corporation's mayoral post was lost by Bangladesh Nationalist Party to Awami League in an election in June same year, the accusations rose.

Background
City Corporations or City Councils are the highest tier among the local councils of Bangladesh— usually composed of cities or metropolitan areas. Elections are held every five years to elect the mayors and ward councilors. Cities are divided into wards. A councilor is elected for each ward by the ward residents. For every three wards, another council seat is reserved for a woman, and is filled by the votes of the residents of those wards.

The Rangpur City Corporation (RpCC) is one of the 12 City Corporations in Bangladesh. It comprises the metropolitan Rangpur. It is further divided into 33 wards. The corporation in Rangpur was founded in 2012 and the first election was held the same year, electing Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu as the first mayor.

Politically, the Rangpur region is considered a 'bastion' of Jatiya Party, with also consisting a large number Awami League supporters. In the past two elections, first was won by an Awami League candidate who was a past member of Jatiya Party and the last was won by a Jatiya Party candidate.