The deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers in the first phase of upazila elections ended on Monday. Symbols will be allocated among these candidates on Tuesday. After this, the candidates will officially start campaigning. Voting for this phase will be held on May 8.
According to the Election Commission (EC) and local sources, on the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers, some candidates of BNP and Jamaat withdrew from the election. Some candidates of the ruling Awami League have also withdrawn their nominations. However, the BNP candidates have remained in the election field in several upazilas, disobeying the party instructions.
According to the latest EC data, 198 candidates have withdrawn their nominations in the first phase. Among them, there are 95 candidates for the post of chairman, 79 for vice chairman and 24 candidates for the post of women vice chairman. After the withdrawal, 554 contenders for the post of chairman, 604 for the post of vice chairman and 429 for the post of women vice chairman remained. In this phase, 1 thousand 588 people have survived in the final fight for three posts.
Meanwhile, Bagerhat Sadar, Munshiganj Sadar and Noakhali’s Hatia Upazila Chairman, Vice Chairman and Women Vice Chairman – all these three posts have been elected. There will be no voting in those three upazilas on May 8.
Earlier, on the last day of filing nominations on April 15, only one nomination was submitted for the post of chairman, so he is on the way to win unopposed in two upazilas (Munshiganj Sadar and Bagerhat Sadar). Apart from this, the candidates won unopposed for the post of vice chairman in Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Hatia and Sandwip upazilas and women vice chairman in Baliadangi, Kushtia Sadar, Damurhuda, Bagerhat Sadar, Baralekha, Matlab North and Subarnachar upazilas.
Meanwhile, according to the information of the EC and related areas, after the withdrawal of nominations, there are maximum 10 candidates in the first phase of the election in Sylhet’s Biswanath Upazila. Among them are 6 people from ruling Awami League, 3 people from BNP and one expelled from BNP. In this upazila, 11 candidates submitted their nominations, but as per the earlier announcement, Jamaat’s candidates withdrew their nominations. Brahmanbaria Sarail has the second highest number of 9 candidates. All of them are leaders of different levels of the ruling Awami League. In this upazila, 11 candidates submitted their nominations, but two BNP leaders withdrew their nominations yesterday. In Bara Upazila of Pabna, 9 candidates including the brother and nephew of the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and former Home Minister Advocate Shamsul Haque Tukur are in the field. All are leaders of different levels of the ruling party. 9 people are in the field as final candidates in Roumari of Kurigram. In this upazila, 6 people from Awami League, one from BNP, one from Jatiya Party and one independent candidate filed their nomination, but no one withdrew their nomination yesterday. All the 9 candidates who submitted their nominations in Natore’s Naldanga are in the fray. Among them, there are 7 candidates from ruling Awami League, one from BNP and one from BNM. After withdrawal of nominations, there are 7 candidates in Kalmakanda upazila of Netrokona. All of them belong to the ruling party. In this upazila, when 10 candidates of Awami League submitted their nominations, the nomination of 1 person was declared invalid during scrutiny. Two others withdrew their nominations yesterday. There are 5 candidates in Harirampur of Manikganj. Among them, one is from BNP and the remaining 4 are from Awami League. In this upazila, 9 nominations were submitted, but the nomination of one candidate was canceled during the scrutiny. Three more candidates withdrew their nominations yesterday.
Earlier in the first phase, 1 thousand 891 candidates submitted nomination papers for the post of chairman, vice chairman and women vice chairman in 150 upazilas. Among them, 696 candidates filed nominations for the post of chairman, 724 for the post of vice chairman and 471 for the post of women vice chairman. Among them, the nomination papers of 104 people were canceled in the selection. As a result, the number of valid candidates was 1 thousand 787.
