1,896 candidates, 27 parties finally stay in race

As the deadline for withdrawal of candidacy expired yesterday, a total of 1,896 candidates have successfully navigated the political landscape to compete in the 12th national polls scheduled for 7 January next year.

The Election Commission (EC) announced this development yesterday at a press conference held at the EC Building in Agargaon.

Out of the initial pool, 347 candidates decided to withdraw their nominations by the cutoff date. The EC Secretary Jahangir Alam revealed that the contestants include representatives from 27 political parties and independent candidates.

"According to the information sent by the returning officers of our 64 districts and Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan constituencies, the total number of nominations filed was 2,716, of them 731 were rejected in the selection process, 560 filed appeals, 286 appeals were granted and 274 appeals were rejected," said the EC secretary.

Among the participating parties with a significant number of candidates, the Awami League leads with 263 candidates, followed closely by the Jatiya Party with 270 candidates and Trinomool BNP with around 140 candidates. In addition, other parties, such as the Bangladesh Congress and the National People Party, have over a hundred candidates each in the upcoming elections.

The EC is now prepared to launch the campaign, commencing on Monday with the allocation of electoral symbols among the candidates.

Notable withdrawals include Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader and Co-Chairman Salma Islam from Dhaka-17, as well as Co-Chairman Kazi Firoz Rashid from Dhaka-6. However, GM Quader and Salma Islam will continue to contest from Rangpur-3 and Dhaka-1, respectively, as Jatiya Party candidates.

Farhana Sayeed, the wife of former Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sayeed Khokon, withdrew her independent candidacy from Dhaka-6, as Sayeed Khokon runs under the Awami League banner in the same constituency.

Advocate Misbah Uddin Siraj, former central organising secretary of Awami League, withdrew his independent candidacy for Sylhet-1 Constituency, citing pressure and the desire to support the party.

In Cox's Bazar, three candidates each from constituencies 1 and 2 withdrew their candidacies, while no withdrawal appeals were filed for the remaining two constituencies, as confirmed by Cox's Bazar District Returning Officer and Cox's Bazar District Commissioner Muhammad Shahin Imran.

Bangladesh Welfare Party Secretary General Abdul Awal Mamun from Cox's Bazar 1, Jatiya Party's AH Salauddin Mahmud from Cox's Bazar 2, and Zaker Party's Mohammad Ilias from Cox's Bazar 2 are among those who have withdrawn from Cox's Bazar.

In Barisal-3 (Babuganj-Muladi) constituency, Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon withdrew his nomination papers, finalizing the matter of contesting the election with the boat symbol as a candidate of the 14-party alliance from Barisal-2 (Bandarban-Ujjalpur) constituency. Awami League had initially nominated former MP Talukder Md Yunus for Barisal-2.

Following the allocation of 32 seats to its allies, including 26 to the Jatiya Party, Awami League-nominated candidates will contest in 263 seats in the upcoming 12th national election.

Meanwhile, the Zaker Party has withdrawn more than 200 candidates, leaving fewer than 10 candidates in the electoral race.