Parliamentary polls: EC revises down party count to 29

As many as 2,712 candidates, including 747 independents, are set to compete for the 300 parliamentary seats, according to the regulator

Amid the shadow cast by the BNP and like-minded parties’ boycott calls, the Election Commission has once again adjusted the count of participating parties in the 12th national elections.

During a briefing at the poll regulator’s Agargaon headquarters on Saturday, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath announced that 29 out of the 44 registered parties in Bangladesh are set to contest the elections.

Initially, the EC had stated that 30 parties would participate after the immediate count following the nomination form submission deadline on Thursday.

However, the next day, Ashok Debnath revealed that data collected nationwide indicated that 32 parties had submitted nomination forms for their candidates.

The watchdog had also revealed that 2,441 nomination papers had been submitted across the country. But that figure, too, was updated the next day, with the EC saying that 2,713 candidates had filed nomination papers.

The number has now been revised down by one to 2,712. 

“The data we have show that 2,712 candidates intend to run for election. And, 29 parties are participating in the polls,” said Ashok.

According to the EC’s public relations wing, 1,965 candidates from 29 political parties and 747 independent candidates are competing for parliamentary seats.

Explaining the discrepancies in the number of parties and candidates, Ashok Debnath attributed the fluctuations to clerical errors in the data transmission process at the field level.