The Election Commission yesterday cancelled the nomination of Jatiya Party mayor aspirant Kamrul Hasan as his name was not on the voter list of Dhaka North City Corporation.

The decision was made during the scrutiny of the nomination papers by the returning officer of the DNCC polls.

After scrutinising the nomination forms of the mayor and councillor hopefuls of two Dhaka city corporations, the EC yesterday declared the candidatures of 993 candidates valid. Of them, 13 will run for mayor and 980 for councillor.

Of the 13 mayor hopefuls, six will join the battle of ballots in Dhaka North City Corporation and the rest in Dhaka South City Corporation on January 30.

The DNCC returning office declared valid the nominations of 359 general and 87 reserved ward councillor hopefuls, while the DSCC returning office found valid the nominations of 434 general and 100 reserved ward councillor aspirants.

Returning officers Abul Kashem and Abdul Baten of the DSCC and DNCC urged all the candidates to abide by the electoral code of conduct. They also warned that stern action would be taken against any violation of the electoral code.

According to EC statistics, although over 2,200 aspirant candidates collected nomination forms for the city polls, less than half of them submitted those to the commission.

KAMRUL’S NOMINATION CANCELLED

RO Kashem said the nomination of JP candidate Kamrul was cancelled as his name was not on the voter list.

According to the electoral law, a mayor hopeful must be a voter of the city corporation area.

Kamrul in his reaction said he would file an appeal with the Dhaka divisional commissioner seeking a reversal of the RO’s decision.

Any candidate can lodge an appeal with the appellate authority against the returning officers’ decision by January 5.

Ten DNCC mayor aspirants had collected nomination forms, but seven of them submitted those.

The EC declared valid the nominations of Awami League’s Atiqul Islam, BNP’s Tabith Awal, Communist Party of Bangladesh’s (CPB) Sajedul Huq Rubel, Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s Sheikh Md Fazle Bari Masud, Progressive Democratic Party’s Shahin Khan and National Peoples Party’s Anisur Rahman Dewan.

Speaking to reporters later, Tabith Awal said validation of his nomination was a primary victory for the BNP as he came to know that some vested quarters were trying to disqualify him from the polls.

Sajedul Huq said ensuring a level playing field didn’t necessarily mean ensuring it only for the AL and the BNP nominees, rather it should be ensured for all candidates.

“The CPB is participating in the polls as part of its fight to restore democracy in the country,” he added.

Meanwhile, RO Kashem said they have cancelled the nominations of 15 general and two reserved women councillor aspirants.

A total of 374 general ward councillor aspirants submitted nominations for 54 posts in the Dhaka North City Corporation and 89 candidates for 18 reserved women councillor posts.

MAYOR HOPEFULS IN DSCC

DSCC RO Baten said they declared valid the nomination papers of all the seven mayor candidates.

They are AL’s Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, BNP’s Ishraque Hossain, JP’s Mohammad Saifuddin, Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s Abdur Rahman, Bangladesh Congress’ Md Akhtaruzzaman, National People’s Party’s Bahrane Sultan Bahar and Gonofront’s Abdus Samad.

Earlier, eight mayor aspirants had collected nomination forms.

The RO said they cancelled nominations of 26 general ward councillors aspirants and two reserved women councillor hopefuls.

Talking to journalists following the scrutiny of nominations, Taposh and Ishraque called upon the voters to exercise their franchise on January 30.

“There will be a festive mood during the polls. I urge everyone in Dhaka south city area to cast their votes,” Taposh said.

Ishraque also urged the voters to go to polling centres. “It’s your rights. You should elect your representatives directly.”

In Dhaka south, a total of 460 aspirants submitted nominations for 75 general ward councillor posts and 102 aspirants for 25 reserved women councillor posts.

COUNCILLOR CANDIDATE HELD

A BNP-backed councillor hopeful was arrested from the capital’s Tikatuli area around 4:30pm yesterday in old cases filed against him, reports UNB.

Bangshal police arrested Tajuddin Ahmed Taju who submitted his nomination to the EC to contest for the ward-32 councillor post in the DSCC polls.