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Nagorik Oikko President Mahmudur Rahman Manna has withdrawn from contesting in the Dhaka-18 seat in the national election, though he remains a candidate in Bogura-2.
Manna announced the decision on Sunday night through a Facebook post.
Attempts to reach him by phone later were unsuccessful.
He wrote, “I am currently in Bogura. Under special circumstances, I had initially decided to contest both Dhaka-18 and Bogura-2 in the parliamentary polls. Dhaka-18 is a vast constituency, comprising seven and a half thanas and around 650,000 voters. Conducting an election here is extremely costly, which I cannot manage.”
He added, “In this context, I have decided to withdraw from contesting in Dhaka-18. I understand this may disappoint some, and I express my regret to them.”
Discussions with multiple political parties in Dhaka-18 indicate that financial constraints were a key factor in Manna’s decision, bdnews24.com reports.
A senior BNP source said that the party could not provide the promised support for his campaign in the capital.
Manna, a long-time ally of the BNP, had been nominated to contest both Bogura-2 and Dhaka-18.
However, the party ultimately gave the Dhaka-18 nomination to its own candidate, reportedly because Jamaat-e-Islami had a strong chance of winning there.
A senior member of the BNP’s standing committee said, “Jamaat’s prospects in Manna’s constituency were high, so BNP chose to field its own candidate.”
Manna is a former general secretary of the Chittagong University Central Students’ Council (CUCSU) and former vice president of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU).
He once served as the Awami League’s organisational secretary.
After being removed from the Awami League in 2009, he formed Nagorik Oikko and became its convenor.
He played a key role in the BNP-led National Unity Front before the 2018 election.
In September 2024, Nagorik Oikko was officially registered as a political party with the Election Commission.