A major change has come to the electoral equation after the scrutiny of the nomination papers submitted in the five parliamentary constituencies of Gazipur district on the occasion of the upcoming 13th National Parliament election. A total of 53 candidates had filed nomination papers in the five constituencies of Gazipur. The nomination papers of 19 candidates were cancelled after the scrutiny on Saturday.
On Saturday (January 3), Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Mohammad Alam Hossain announced the cancellation of the nomination papers of 19 candidates after the scrutiny. An important aspect of the scrutiny process is that no nomination papers of candidates of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were cancelled in any constituency of Gazipur.
Out of the eight nomination papers filed in Gazipur-1 (Kaliakoir) constituency, the nomination papers of Jatiya Party's SM Shafiqul Islam and Ganofront's Md. Atiqul Islam were rejected. Their nomination papers were rejected as they did not submit proper documents. The remaining candidates in the contest in this constituency are BNP nominee Md. Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nominee Md. Shah Alam Bakshi, Bangladesh Labor Party's Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiqui, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist)'s Taslima Akhter, independent candidate Md. Imarat Hossain Khan and Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Ruhul Amin.
A maximum of 18 candidates filed their nomination papers in Gazipur-2 constituency. After the scrutiny, the nomination papers of eight were rejected. Khandaker Ruhul Amin, Jit Barua and Tapsi Tanmoy Chowdhury were dropped due to lack of valid support from one percent voters. The nomination papers of Mahfuzur Rahman Khan and Md. Atiqul Islam of the People's Rights Council were declared invalid due to inconsistency in the information in the affidavit, Mohammad Israfil Mia of the Jatiya Party due to lack of proper affidavit, Mohammad Shariful Islam of the Janata Dal due to lack of signatures in the affidavit and pledge, and independent candidate Salauddin Sarkar due to errors in the affidavit. The remaining valid candidates in this seat are BNP nominee M. Manjurul Karim Rony, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nominee Muhammad Hossain Ali, Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Hanif Sarkar, Bangladesh Communist Party's Md. Ziaul Kabir, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist)'s Masud Reza, Insaniat Biplob Bangladesh's Sarkar Taslima Afroz, Jatiya Party's Md. Mahbub Alam, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party)'s Abbas Islam Khan, Jatiya Nagorik Party's Ali Naser Khan, and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSAD)'s Md. Abdul Qayyum.
In Gazipur-3 (Sripur) constituency, three out of 10 candidates' nomination papers were rejected. The three candidates were eliminated due to errors in the documents and failure to meet the conditions. Those eliminated are independent candidates Golam Sabbir Ali and Izadur Rahman Milon, and Hafez Maulana Mufti Shamim Ahmed of Islami Oikya Jote.
The candidates contesting in this constituency are BNP nominee SM Rafiqul Islam, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nominee Mohammad Jahangir Alam, Jatiya Party's Md Nazim Uddin, and Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Alamgir Hossain.
Out of nine nomination papers submitted in Gazipur-4 (Kapasia) constituency, four were rejected. Independent candidate Mohammad Abul Hashem was eliminated due to income tax arrears and a one percent voter list shortfall, independent candidate Md. Shafiullah was eliminated for the same reason, Md. Kazim Uddin of Islami Andolan Bangladesh was eliminated due to the inadequacy of the affidavit, and Md. Zakir Hossain of Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) was eliminated due to the lack of signatures on the affidavit and pledge.
The remaining valid candidates in this constituency are BNP nominee Shah Riazul Hannan, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nominee Salah Uddin Ayubi, National People's Party's Monir Hossain, Jatiya Party's Enamul Kabir, and Communist Party of Bangladesh's Manabendra Deb.
Out of the eight candidates in Gazipur-5 constituency, two of the nomination papers were rejected. The nomination paper of Dr. Md. Shafiuddin Sarkar of Jatiya Party was declared rejected due to the lack of election expenditure information, and the nomination paper of Md. Ruhul Amin of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis was rejected due to the lack of proposers.
The remaining candidates in the race for this seat are BNP nominee AKM Fazlul Haque Milon, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nominee Md. Khairul Hasan, Islami Front Bangladesh's Md. Al Amin Dewan, Janata Dal's Md. Azam Khan, Gono Forum's Md. Kajal Bhuiyan and Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Gazi Ataur Rahman.
In total, 34 candidates are currently in the fray legally as 19 out of 53 candidates in the five parliamentary constituencies of Gazipur have had their nomination papers cancelled.
Aggrieved candidates can appeal against the decision of the Returning Officer's scrutiny from January 5 to January 9. The appeal will be disposed of from January 10 to January 18. The last date for withdrawal of candidacy is January 20. The Returning Officer will publish the final list of candidates and allocate symbols on January 21.
The election campaign will start on January 22. Campaigning can be conducted until 7:30 am on February 10. Voting will be held on February 12.
Comment
