26 submit nomination forms in the battle for Dhaka South mayor

Twenty-six Dhaka South City Corporation mayoral aspirants have submitted nomination papers on the last day of filing.

Two forms filed by senior BNP leader Mirza Abbas, however, took the total number of nominations to 27 on Sunday.

But that had little legal implication, said Mihir Sarwar Morshed, the returning officer for Dhaka South.

He told bdnews24.com: “Anyone can submit two nomination forms. At times, a person’s nomination is cancelled due to lack of support. In that case, those who submit more than one form get another chance.”

The forms will be screened on Apr 1 and 2. The last date to withdraw nominations is Apr 9.

Apart from BNP Standing Committee member and Dhaka City unit Convener Abbas, the party’s Economic Affairs Secretary Abdus Salam also submitted his papers.Two forms filed by senior BNP leader Mirza Abbas, however, have taken the number of total number of papers submitted to 27 on Sunday.

None of them collected or filed the papers themselves. Their representatives took care of that several days ago and on Sunday.

Both leaders have cases against them for violence related to the blockade their party has been enforcing since Jan 5. They have also not been seen in public in the past few weeks.

Abbas’ lawyer and Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal leader Abdus Salam submitted the form at the office of the DSCC returning officer’s office on Sunday afternoon, while Salam’s wife submitted his.

Nasima Aktar Kalpana, the wife of BNP Assistant Organising Secretary Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, who is in jail serving a life term, submitted her husband’s papers.

Asaduzzaman Ripon, the International Affairs Secretary of the BNP, himself filed his papers to run for the mayor post.

In all, 30 people had collected the nomination forms, but four of them did not submit them.

One of them was Awami League’s Dhaka metropolitan unit’s Joint General Secretary and independent MP Haji Mohammad Salim.

The Awami League last Friday night announced its official support for the same unit’s Organising Secretary Sayeed Khokon in the run for Dhaka South mayor.
 

Khokon, the son of late Dhaka mayor Mohammad Hanif, submitted his nomination papers along with the other aspirants on Sunday.

Former Awami League MP Golam Maula Rony, who is apparently ‘unwanted’ in the party now after embarrassing senior leaders on several occasions, is also running for the mayor post.

Jatiya Party Presidium member Saifuddin Milon and BaSaD leader Bazlur Rashif Firoz are also in the fray.

The other mayoral aspirants are Aktaruzzaman, Md Abdul Khalek, Md Jahidur Rahman, Abu Naser Md Masud Hossain, Md Baharane Sultan Bahar, ASM Akram, Shahin Khan, Dilip Bhadra, Md Shahidul Islam, Md Babul Sardar Chakhari, Md Shafi Ullah Chowdhury, Abdur Rahman, Md Riaz Uddin, Mashiur Rahman, Md Imtiaz Alam, Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Md Aiyub Hussein and Qazi Abul Bashar.

 

Dhaka South City Corporation mayor aspirants