131 candidates cleared for 15 Dhaka city constituencies

The scrutiny of nominations for the 15 constituencies in Dhaka city has found 131 candidates valid to contest in the parliamentary polls scheduled to be held on Feb 12.

The Election Commission has cancelled 62 nomination papers and suspended one.

The scrutiny was done at the returning officer’s office in Segunbagicha and the Election Training Institute in Agargaon.

Dhaka Divisional Commissioner and Returning Officer Sharf Uddin Ahmed Choudhury said they cleared 119 nominations for the 13 Dhaka city constituencies out of 174 submitted.

The sole suspended bid belongs to Ashraful Hoque, the Jamaat-e-Islami nominee for the Dhaka-18 seat. Hoque was granted additional time after requesting to submit a supplementary affidavit.

According to Sharf Uddin, the grounds for disqualification included documentation errors, loan defaults, incomplete affidavits, and issues surrounding political party registrations.

Addressing the controversy over cancelled nominations, he said: “All candidates have the right to express their views. They will be informed of the reasons for the cancellations and may appeal to the Election Commission or the courts.”

He confirmed all BNP nominations are valid, with most cancelled papers belonging to independents.

Affected candidates can appeal between Jan 5 and 9.