2,582 seek nomination after large dropouts

A total of 2,582 candidates have submitted nomination papers to contest 300 parliament seats in the first electoral race in Bangladesh after a mass uprising that toppled the past regime.
However, 3,407 aspirants had collected the nomination papers since the election schedule was declared for the 13th parliamentary election and referendum set for February 12 next.
Two returning offices for Dhaka metropolitan area -- Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Office in Segunbagicha and the Election Commission regional office in Agargaon had been abuzz with political party leaders and activists since morning on the last day of nomination filing on Monday.
Nomination papers of notable political figures, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman, were submitted on the day.
On behalf of Tarique Rahman, his nomination paper for the Dhaka-17 constituency was submitted to Dhaka Divisional Commissioner and Returning Officer Sharf Uddin Ahmed Choudhury at around 11am.
BNP Chairperson's Advisory Council member and Chief Election Coordinator for Dhaka-17 Abdus Salam along with Prof Dr Farhad Halim Donor were present at the time of submission.
Talking to journalists, the BNP leader, Abdus Salam, said they were seeking blessings from the people as they successfully submitted the nomination.
"We have submitted the nomination papers on behalf of our acting chairman," he said.
He expressed the hope that Mr Rahman would be "elected by huge vote from this constituency, regardless of party affiliation, and would strive to overcome the country's crisis by fulfilling his duties as the head of government in Bangladesh in the coming days."
Of the notable candidates, NCP Convenor Nahid Islam for Dhaka-11 and its Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary Dhaka-8 submitted their nomination papers at the Commissioner office.
The Dhaka-8 constituency has been in discussion as slain Inqilab Moncho Convenor Sharif Osman bin Hadi had expressed his intention to contest the same seat as an independent candidate. Luck struck him down.
Talking to journalists after filing his nomination, Nasiruddin stated that he had been entrusted with the task of fulfilling Hadi's aspirations.
"I have been given the responsibility to make Hadi's dreams come true," he said, signalling a continuation of the late activist's political vision.
Electoral candidates from different parties as well as independent ones were seen entering the DC office since morning. Many of them came along with a huge number of supporters.
Commenting on the last-day nomination paper submission Divisional Commissioner Sharf Uddin Ahmed Choudhury said everything went on without any trouble.
"We have noticed since the morning that candidates have submitted their nomination papers in a disciplined manner," he says, adding that they advised the candidates "not to indulge in any untoward incident while submitting their nomination papers". He made the remarks while briefing reporters at his office at around 1:30 pm
Mr Choudhury praised the role of the media, saying that the presence of a large number of media proves that they were interested and monitoring the elections.
"If the media is vigilant, it will be possible to deal with any mischief," says the returning officer for the capital city in the crucial polls.
Regarding the overall security situation, Sharaf Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury says there is no major risk in the eyes of the Election Commission for the time being.
Apart from the DC office, Election Commission (EC) regional office is the returning office of the Dhaka-13 and Dhaka-15 electoral seats. Jamaat assistant secretary-general Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair and Abdul Halim and central executive committee member Mobarak Hossain submitted the nomination papers for Dr Shafiqur Rahman -- who is going to contest from the Dhaka-15 -- at the EC regional office in Electoral Training Institute.
Besides, BNP-nominated Bobby Hajjaj and Shafiqul Islam Khan submitted their respective nomination papers to contest the polls from Dhaka-13 and 15 constituencies respectively.
Other candidates filing nomination papers from Dhaka-13 constituency include Jamaat-e-Islami's Mubarak Hossain, NCP's Akram Hossain, and Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Murad Hossain.
From Dhaka-15, Khelafat Majlish's Mamunul Haque, CPB's Dr. Sajedul Huq Rubel submitted their nomination papers, among others.
According to the EC's Central Coordination Committee formed for the February-12 election, a total of 3,144 nomination papers were collected from the returning officers to run in the polls from the country's 300 constituencies till Sunday after the election schedule announced on December 11.
Meanwhile, Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed ruled out any possibility of extending the deadline for submitting nomination papers by political parties and candidates for the 13th national election and the referendum.
"No. The time will not be extended," says Mr Ahmed.
He came up with the announcement at around 5:30 pm on the day at the Nirbachan Bhaban.
Asked how many nomination papers were submitted throughout the day, the EC secretary said the figure would be available around 10:00 pm after compilation is completed.
Also on Monday, the EC published the reserved and updated electoral symbols of 59 registered political parties for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election, excluding the boat symbol of the beleaguered Awami League.
The symbols were published through a gazette notification signed by Md Humayun Kabir, Deputy Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat.

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