Some 3,000 voters will elect eight directors from 14 contestants while two directors have been elected uncontested in the meantime.

Of the eight directors, four will come from general group, two from associate group and one each from trade and town group.

Candidates of Samamana Parishad (Likeminded Panel) and Ganatantrik Parishad (Democratic Panel) have started intense campaign to win the election.

Shafiqul Islam from trade group and Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Badal from town group have been elected directors uncontested.

Candidates from Samamana Parishad of general group are MA Muhaimin Saleh, Md Shahjahan Khan, KMH Shahidul Huq and Kamrul Islam. They will contest with Ganatantrik Parishad's Osman Gani, Humayun Kabir, Md Bashirullah Bhuiyan and Syed Abdul Jalil.

In associate group Samamana Parishad's candidates Manzur-ur-Rahman (Raskin) and Md Alauddin Malik will lock horns with Ganatantrik Parishad's Shahnewaz Chowdhury and Shafiqur Rahman.

Sources said Samamana Parishad is likely to sweep the election as it has got support from 12 former presidents of the chamber, a trade body representative mostly of grassroots businessmen which was established in 1958.

According to the constitution of DCCI, eight directors out of total 24 in the DCCI board retire in rotation after serving three-year term. Elections to the eight vacant director posts are held every year. The newly elected eight and 16 serving directors elect one president, one senior vice-president and one vice-president for one-year term.

This year the presidential and vice-presidential elections will be held on December 9.