Dhaka City Polls BNP nominates Ishraque, Tabith

Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday finalised Ishraque Hossain and Tabith Awal for contesting in Dhaka South and Dhaka North city corporation mayoral race while ruling Awami League will declare its candidates today.

Ishraque is an adviser to BNP chairperson for international affairs and former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s son.

 

The election is scheduled to be held on January 30.

Awami League’s Local Government Nomination Board chaired by party president and prime minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban in the evening finalised the party’s candidates, party insiders said.

‘Names of Awami League candidates in two city polls will be announced official Sunday morning,’ the party general secretary Obaidul Quader told reporters after the meeting.

He said that AL president and prime minister Sheikh Hasina is still scrutinising the matter and she is collecting information from different sources including intelligence reports.

More time needs to settle the issue, he said, adding that the names of mayors and councillor candidates would be declared today from a press conference at AL president’s office in Dhanmondi at 11:00am.

Meeting insiders, however, said that AL lawmaker Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and incumbent mayor Atiqul Islam likely to get the party tickets to contest in the polls.

The BNP decision was taken in the party’s standing committee meeting at the party chairperson’s office in the capital’s Gulshan in the evening.

‘We are participating in the city elections as BNP is believes in electoral and democratic system and we think that election is a part of movement,‘  announced BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir after attending the standing committee meeting.

Meanwhile, BNP formed two committees, each comprising seven members, on Saturday to select the party candidates for the posts of councillors in the elections.

The committee to select candidates for Dhaka South City is led by the BNP chairperson’s adviser Abdus Salam and the committee to select candidates for Dhaka North City will be led by the party vice-chairman Mohammad Shahajahan, two senior BNP leaders said.

They said that all the members of the committees had received letters, signed by the party senior joint- secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, in this connection and the party would begin activities to nominate the candidates today.

A total of 476 aspirants for posts of councillors have collected nomination forms from BNP. Of them, 196 aspirants including 34 for reserved wards for females collected forms for north city and 280 aspirants including 60 for reserved wards for females collected forms for south city elections, office secretaries of the two city units of BNP said.

Eight aspirants sought AL nomination to vie for Dhaka South City mayor while 12 aspirants for the Dhaka North City mayor.

DSCC incumbent mayor Sayeed Khokon, AL lawmakers Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and Haji M Selim, AL law affairs secretary Nazibullah HIru, Muktijoddha Sangsad central command council’s former secretary general MA Rashid, Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu Kishore Parishad adviser M Nazmul Haque, Bangabandhu Parishad president Ashraf Hossain Siddique, and Dhaka South City unit AL’s former president Haji Abul Hasnat sought nominations from the AL to contest for Dhaka South City mayor post.

DNCC incumbent mayor M Atiqul Islam, Bangabandhu Foundation joint general secretary Shahidullah Osmani, AL Bhasantek thana unit vice-president M Yead Ali Fakir, party activist M Jaman Bhuyan, Bangabandhu Foundation vice-president Md Kutubuddin, AL Greece unit vice-president Md Idris Ali Molla, Juba League former organising secretary Salauddin Mahmud, AL religious affairs sub-committee member Zerin Sultana Kanta and party activists Helena Jahangir, Adam Tamiji Huq, Khairul Majid and Rehana Farhad sought AL nominations to run for the  Dhaka South City mayor position.

Besides, BNP special secretary Asaduzzaman Ripon and executive committee member Tabith Awal collected party nomination forms for the Dhaka North City mayor post, while the party chairperson’s international affairs adviser and former Dhaka City mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s son Ishraque Hossain alone collected nomination form for the Dhaka South City mayor.

In Dhaka south city 23,67,488 voters will elect one mayor, 75 councillors for general wards and 25 councillors for reserved wards for female and in Dhaka north city 30,35,621 voters will exercise their voting rights to elect one mayor, 54 councillors for general wards, 18 councillors for reserved wards for females.

As per the election schedule, the last date for nomination paper submission to the returning officers is December 31 while the nomination papers would be scrutinised on January 2. The deadline for withdrawing candidature is January 9.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net