The presence of female candidates in the 16 parliamentary seats of Chattogram in the upcoming national elections is very limited. Out of a total of 143 candidates, five women filed nominations. After the scrutiny, the nominations of two were rejected, leaving three female candidates in the election field.
The main political parties BNP, Jamaat and NCP did not field any female candidates in any of the seats in Chattogram this time. All three of the female candidates participating in the election are contesting with the support of left and Islamic political parties. According to the district election office sources, Barrister Sakila Farzana has filed her nomination as an independent candidate in Chittagong-5 (Hathazari) constituency. She is a central member of the Nationalist Lawyers Forum and the daughter of the late Syed Wahidul Alam, a three-time elected former MP and whip from Hathazari constituency. She was imprisoned for a long time during the previous Awami League government. He contested the election as an independent candidate after not getting a party nomination. His nomination was cancelled on Saturday (December 3) after the signatures of one percent of voters who submitted as independent candidates were not verified.
Ten people were randomly selected from the list of one percent of voters who submitted as independent candidates. The authenticity of the signatures of some of them could not be found. Therefore, the nomination was cancelled. Meanwhile, Jinnat Akhtar had filed his nomination as an independent candidate in the Chattogram-2 (Fatikchari) constituency. However, his nomination was also cancelled during the verification process due to complications related to the signatures in the voter list.
Among the three remaining candidates, Asma Akhtar has filed her nomination from the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist) in the Chattogram-10 (Pahartoli) constituency. She runs a free school for underprivileged children in the city's Sholashar slum. Sabina Khatun, who had previously contested the 2018 National Assembly elections, has contested the same constituency from the Insaniat Biplob Dal. On the other hand, Deepa Majumdar is contesting from the Chattogram-11 (Port) constituency. She is a member of the BSP Chittagong district committee and former president of the Chattogram metropolitan committee of the Socialist Student Front. She is known for her active role in various anti-government movements.
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