Election Commission scraps 86 nomination papers including six mayoral in two cities
Police yesterday said 12 mayor hopefuls in Dhaka are facing criminal cases, on a day the Election Commission scrapped five mayor nomination papers in the capital and one in Chittagong.
Most of these 12 aspirants are affiliated with the BNP and the specific criminal cases against them are at different stages of investigation, police said.
Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam, spokesperson of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) which is working closely with EC in the nomination paper scrutiny process, also said several mayor aspirants face “double digit” cases.
He, however, could not say exactly how many aspirants were wanted or had not obtained bail from court. “Police will arrest the candidates who are participating without obtaining bail. And those already on bail have been brought under surveillance,” Monirul said.
On the first day of the two-day scrutiny of city polls nomination papers in Dhaka yesterday, the EC approved 42 forms – 19 in the south and 23 in the north. In Chittagong, 12 out of the 13 nomination pleas have been accepted by the EC.
The list of scrapped nomination papers includes two heavyweight candidates backed by the BNP – Abdul Awal Mintoo in Dhaka North and Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu in Dhaka South.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Returning Officer Shah Alam told the Dhaka Tribune: “Mintoo’s nomination was cancelled because the person [Abdur Razzak] who collected his form is not a voter of the area from where the BNP leader wanted to contest.”
The nomination papers of Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, who is serving jail terms as a convict in the BDR carnage case, was cancelled because his affidavit did not have proper mention of the case-related information, said Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Returning Officer Mihir Sarwar Morshed.
In the south, two other nomination seekers for the mayor run – Babul Sarder Chakahari and Rezaul Karim Chowdhury – were dropped. The first was found to be a loan defaulter and the second did not submit income tax return with their papers.
The EC yesterday dismissed 31 general and 12 female ward councillor aspirants in the north of Dhaka on various charges including not signing affidavits properly, not producing certification of educational qualifications, not having bail in cases and for being loan defaulters.
In the DNCC, apart from Mintoo, the EC disapproved another mayoral aspirant Nayem Hossain after finding out that he is a loan defaulter.
DNCC Returning Officer Shah Alam yesterday accepted the nomination papers of 199 general ward councillor aspirants and 15 female ones. A total of 15 general councillors and 10 female councillors’ papers were scrapped.
He said some aspirants did not maintain the procedures properly, some were accused in cases and others were loan defaulters.
Chittagong city polls mayor aspirant Mohammad Forkan Chowdhury was dismissed because he could not produce his income tax return receipt until 5pm yesterday.
After daylong analysis, the scrutiny team in the port city cancelled eight general and four female ward councillors’ nominations.
Officials said the aspirants whose nominations were cancelled can appeal to the divisional commissioner of the EC within three days. The divisional commissioner will then decide whether their nomination papers should be accepted or not.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bank has said that none of the mayoral aspirants in Dhaka and Chittagong are loan defaulters.
The central bank sent the Credit Information Bureau (CIB) reports on Tuesday, clearing all the mayor contestants in the two cities, sources said.
Allegations were raised last month that Sayeed Khokon, Awami League-backed mayor candidate for Dhaka south, was a bank loan defaulter. This report therefore clears him as well.
Source: Dhaka Tribune