69 MPs fail to get party ticket

The ruling Awami League has unveiled its lineup of nominees for the upcoming 12th national elections, dropping many incumbents, report agencies.
As many as 69 ruling party lawmakers failed to get AL ticket to the election slated for January 7 next.
AL's general secretary Obaidul Quader announced the names at party's central office Sunday afternoon.
Names of the candidates for Narayanganj-5 and Kushtia-2 constituencies were not announced.
Similar to the past three national elections, the Awami League has opted to form a coalition for the elections. But it has named candidates in seats won by its coalition partners in the last election. The possibility of compromise with other parties will determine the final decision.
Party chief Sheikh Hasina will once again contest the Gopalganj-3 seat, while General Secretary Obaidul Quader will vie for Noakhali-5.
The incumbent MPs who failed to secure an Awami League ticket this time include former LGRD minister Khandaker Mossharraf Hossain, former home minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, former state minister for information Murad Hasan, former inspector general of police Nur Mohammad, and Old Dhaka stalwart Haji Mohammad Salim.
Following the announcement of the schedule for the Jan 7 elections, the Awami League conducted the sale of nomination forms from Nov 18-21. As many as 3,362 aspirants collected forms for the 300 seats.
Apart from party members, star cricketer Shakib Al Hasan and Dhallywood actors Ferdous Ahmed, Mahia Mahi, and Shamsun Nahar Shimla also bought nomination forms from the Awami League.
Shakib has been selected as the party's candidate for the Magura-1 parliamentary seat, while Ferdous is set to contest elections from Dhaka-10.
Former Bangladesh cricket captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will also run for re-election from the Narail-2 constituency as a ruling party candidate.
The Awami League introduced new candidates for nine out of 20 constituencies in Dhaka.
The new candidates include Sanjida Khanam for Dhaka-4, Harunur Rashid Munna for Dhaka-5, Sayeed Khokon for Dhaka-6, Solaiman Salim for Dhaka-7, AFM Bahauddin Nasim for Dhaka-8, Ferdous Ahmed for Dhaka-10, Md. Wakil Uddin for Dhaka-11, Jahangir Kabir Nanak for Dhaka-13, and Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil for Dhaka-14.
The other candidates for Dhaka constituencies are: Salman F Rahman (Dhaka-1), Kamrul Islam (Dhaka-2), Nasrul Hamid (Dhaka-3), Saber Hossain Chowdhury (Dhaka-9), Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal (Dhaka-12), Kamal Ahmed Majumdar (Dhaka-15), Elias Uddin Mollah (Dhaka-16), Mohammad A Arafat (Dhaka-17), Habib Hasan (Dhaka-18), Dr Enamur Rahman (Dhaka-19), and Benzir Ahmed (Dhaka-20).