NCP almost finalises nominees for 9 seats in Dhaka with Nahid, Asif, Patwary

Ahead of the upcoming national election, the National Citizen Party (NCP) has nearly finalised its list of nominees for 44 constituencies, including 9 in Dhaka.

According to NCP sources, Nahid Islam will contest from Dhaka-11, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan from Dhaka-12, Tasnim Zara from Dhaka-9, and Nasiruddin Patwary from Dhaka-18. 

Of these nine Dhaka constituencies, the BNP left four seats vacant when it announced its list on Monday. The BNP nominated MA Kayum for Dhaka-11, Saiful Alam Nirab for Dhaka-12, Sanjida Islam Tuli for Dhaka-14, and Nabi Ullah Nabi for Dhaka-5.

Meanwhile, NCP is preparing to field candidates in all 300 constituencies across the country, the party's Convener Nahid Islam said in a video speech posted on the party's verified Facebook page last night.

Nahid said NCP was looking for competent candidates across the country.

Among the NCP's senior leaders, Sarjis Alam is likely to contest from Panchagarh-1, Akhtar Hossain from Rangpur-4, Hasnat Abdullah from Cumilla-4, Mahfuz Alam from Lakshmipur-1, Ariful Islam Adib from Dhaka-14, and Abdul Hannan Masud from Noakhali-6.

NCP to announce candidates for all 300 constituencies under 'Shapla Koli' symbol within this month

BNP, meanwhile, has finalised heavyweight nominees for most of these constituencies, including Barrister Mohammad Naushad Jamir (Panchagarh-1), Mohammad Emdadul Haque Bhorsa (Rangpur-4), Manjurul Ahsan Munshi (Cumilla-4), and Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman Shamim (Noakhali-6). However, the BNP has not named any candidate for Lakshmipur-1, where NCP's Mahfuz Alam may run.

The NCP, which has been strengthening its organisational network and targeting young voters under the slogan of "changing political culture", has almost finalised candidates in 44 constituencies. The list, prepared after a series of internal discussions and vetting sessions, reflects the party's vision and emerging leadership framework. The list also includes two current government student advisers whose nominations are nearly confirmed.

A senior policymaker of the party said the formal announcement of the constituency-wise list could come on Friday, although some tactical adjustments might be made before that. "The nominations have been made to ensure electoral competition and bring young people to the centre of the political structure," the source added.

NCP banking on new generation leadership

Challenging Bangladesh's long-standing dominance of "the same faces" and family-based leadership, the NCP aims to bring forward a new generation of professionals, educated citizens, and ethically driven youth, according to party leaders. They said the candidates were chosen based on four core criteria: competence, integrity, dedication, and a clean image.

The preliminary list features representatives from politics, journalism, law, entrepreneurship, education, IT, development, and youth activism — signalling an attempt to build a new voter base and promote ethical leadership in politics.

An internal party document shows that most of the selected nominees are aged between 25 and 45. Political analysts believe this could set a new trend in Bangladesh's electoral politics, where a significant portion of the electorate comprises first-time young voters.