737 nomination papers submitted

A total of 737 people have submitted their nominations for the fourth phase of the Upazila council elections according to bdnews24.com.

The Election Management Branch of the Election Commission reported the data on Thursday, the final day of nomination paper submissions.

Aspirants submitted 272 nomination papers for the posts of chairman, 266 for vice chairman posts, and 199 for women vice chairman posts.

Four posts in four Upazilas had only a single contestant. These are the chairman post in Kishoreganj's Kuliarchar, and the vice chairman posts in Tangail's Gopalpur, Cumilla's Chauddagram, and Feni's Chagolnaiya.

According to the EC schedule, candidates can withdraw until May 19 and election symbols will be allocated on May 20. The election is set to be held on Jun 5.

A full list of candidates will be announced after the nomination papers are scrutinised and the withdrawal deadline is passed, says Md Shariful Alam, director of the EC's Public Relations team.

In the fourth phase, the most applications were submitted for the races in Faridpur's Alfadanga and Brahmanbaria's Nabinagar. Nine aspirants have submitted papers for the chairman seats in these Upazilas.

Rangpur's Taraganj and Brahmanbaria's Nabinagar and Bijoynagar have the most aspirants for the post of vice chairman, with nine each submitting their papers in the three Upazilas.

Faridpur's Alfadanga has the most aspirants gunning for the post of female vice chairman with eight

The sixth Upazila Council elections are being held in four phases this year. The first phase saw 139 Upazilas go to the polls on May 8.

Another 160 Upazilas will go to the polls in the second phase on May 21, 112 will vote in the third phase on May 29, and 56 in the third phase on Jun 5.