Dozens of candidates, including nominees of the ruling Awami League, incumbent lawmakers, and independents, saw their nomination papers either cancelled or suspended by the returning officers of their respective constituencies on Sunday following scrutiny.
Jhalakathi deputy commissioner and returning officer of the election for the district, Farah Gul Nijhum, cancelled the nomination papers of seven candidates in two constituencies, including the nomination papers of Bazlul Haque Haroon, the incumbent lawmaker for Jhalokathi-1.
Haroon submitted his nomination paper as the Awami League nominee, and former BNP vice chairman Shahjahan Omar, who joined the Awami League hours after his release from jail on Thursday, also submitted his nomination paper as the ruling party candidate.
The returning officer declared Shahjahan Omar’s nomination paper valid and cancelled the nomination paper for Haroon.
Shahjahan Omar was present during the scrutiny of the nomination papers, which began at about 10:00am on Sunday.
He appeared in Jhalakathi for the first time Sunday after submitting his nomination as an Awami League candidate, leaving the BNP. Local Awami League leaders and activists were seen with him.
Returning officer and deputy commissioner Muhammad Shahin Imran cancelled the nomination paper of the Awami League’s nominated candidate, Salahuddin Ahmed, in Cox’s Bazar-1 constituency due to a loan default.
The nomination paper of Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, chairman of the Bangladesh Kalyan Party, has been declared valid.
Ibrahim, an active member of the BNP-led anti-government movement for a long time, announced that he would join the polls in November.
Zafar Alam, a member of the Awami League and the current AL lawmaker for Cox’s Bazar-1 Jatiya Sangsad seat, along with his son, filed nomination papers as independent candidates, and both of their nomination papers have been declared valid.
According to the returning officer’s office, the nomination papers of Awami League candidate Salahuddin Ahmed and independent candidates Shafiqul Islam, Qamar Uddin Arman, Shamsuddin Muhammad Ilias, and Shahnewaz Chowdhury have been cancelled.
Deputy commissioner and returning officer Muhammad Shahin told reporters that Awami League candidate Salahuddin Ahmed had his nomination papers cancelled due to a loan default with two banks.
Regarding independent candidates, he said that the nomination papers of Shafiqul Islam, Qamar Uddin Arman, and Shahnewaz Chowdhury were cancelled because they did not attach the supporting list of one per cent of voters.
Salahuddin said that the court, on November 23, ordered the removal of his name from the list of loan defaulters.
‘Therefore, I am not a defaulter. However, my nomination was cancelled by citing defaulter status on the Credit Information Bureau report. This is unfair, and I plan to appeal against the decision,’ he said.
The nomination paper submitted by Mahi B Chowdhury, a candidate of AL ally Bikalpadhara Bangladesh for Munshiganj-1 constituency, has been declared invalid on the ground of bank loan default, while the nomination of Trinamool BNP’s
Antara Huda was declared valid.
The nomination papers of Bangladesh Nationalist Movement candidate Muhammad Farid Hossain and the Awami League’s independent candidate Golam Sarwar Kabir were also cancelled in the same constituency.
The nomination paper of Awami League candidate and incumbent lawmaker Mamunur Rashid Kiran of the Noakhali-1 constituency has been cancelled.
Returning officer Dewan Mahbubur Rahman cancelled his nomination paper on the grounds of loan default during the scrutiny of nominations on Sunday.
However, Kiran said that he was not a loan defaulter.
‘All the loans in the name of our organisation are up-to-date as per the rules. We have all the documents. I will appeal to the Election Commission. I hope to get the nomination back,’ he said.
In the Sylhet-2 constituency, the nomination papers of eight aspirants, including incumbent lawmaker Mukabbir Khan, Jatiya Party vice chairman Yahia Chowdhury, and Biswanath municipality mayor Muhibur Rahman, were cancelled by returning officer Sheikh Russel Hasan.
A total of 14 aspirants filed nomination papers for the seat. Among them, the nomination papers of eight candidates were cancelled, two candidates were suspended, and four candidates were declared valid.
Gono Forum candidate Mukabbir himself signed his nomination paper as the party’s executive president. But he could not produce any proof to the returning officer that he got the post of the party.
The nomination papers of six candidates in six Barishal constituencies have been cancelled due to various complaints, while the nomination papers of four other candidates have been suspended.
The nomination papers were scrutinised at the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Sunday.
Returning officer and deputy commissioner Shahidul Islam cancelled the nomination papers of six candidates: Mohammad Riaz Morshed of the Zaker Party for Barisal-1, Mohammad Miraz Hossain of the Bangladesh Congress, Albert Barai of the Jatiya Party for Barishal-2, and independent candidates Zakir Khan Sagar, Mohammad Shahriar Mia, and Noor Alam Shikder for Barisal-6.
The returning officer said that there were complaints and counter-complaints about the Awami League candidate for Barisal-4 constituency, Shammi Ahmed, and independent candidate Pankaj Nath, the current AL lawmaker.
‘The decision will be taken after the hearing on the last day of scrutiny on Monday,’ he said.
AL’s international affairs secretary, Shammi Ahmed, has collected nomination papers for the seat of Barishal-4, where Pankaj Nath, who was expelled from all posts of the Awami League, is the incumbent lawmaker.
The returning officer said that Barishal-5 constituency independent candidate Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah did not mention in his affidavit that he got a house in the United States in the name of his wife. The returning officer kept his nomination papers suspended.
Expelled BNP leader and independent candidate from Kishoreganj-2 constituency, retired army major Akhtaruzzaman, also saw his nomination papers cancelled.
Kishoreganj deputy commissioner and district returning officer Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad cancelled his nomination paper for ‘concealing information about cases against him and hiding bank loan information.’
The nomination papers of many celebrities, including actress Mahiya Mahi, playback singer Doly Sayontoni, and social media content creator Ashraful Alam, popularly known as Hero Alam, were cancelled during the scrutiny process.
According to the Election Commission schedule, today is the last day for nomination paper scrutiny by ROs.
The EC will appeal against the returning officers’ decision from December 6 to 15, while the last date for withdrawing nomination papers is December 17.
New Age
