Bangladesh is going to polls on Dec 30, 2018 to elect the members of parliament.
AL marks film star Farooque for Dhaka-17 eyed by Ershad
The Awami League has nominated movie star Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque as its final candidate for Dhaka-17 seat, though it is yet to finalise share of nominations with its key ally the Jatiya Party, with its chief HM Ershad vying for the same constituency.
Published : 7 Dec 2018, 09:42 PM
Updated : 7 Dec 2018, 09:42 PM
Initially, the ruling party nominated actor-activist Farooque and its Dhaka city leader Abdul Quader Khan.
On Friday, General Secretary Obaidul Quader confirmed Farooque’s nomination for the seat consisting of upscale Gulshan, Banani and Cantonment areas and parts of Bhashantek.
Ershad won the seat in the 2008 elections as a candidate of the Awami League-led Grand Alliance.
In 2014, he submitted nomination papers to contest for the seat but later withdrew and got elected from a Rangpur constituency.
Bangladesh Nationalist Front-BNF Chairman SM Abul Kalam Azad won the Dhaka constituency in the 2014 elections boycotted by the BNP.
No leader from the Jatiya Party spoke to bdnews24.com about whether Ershad will run for the seat.
Ershad submitted nomination papers also for two other seats in Rangpur and Satkhira.
Among the Awami League’s allies, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh’s Mahi B Chowdhury and former army officer AKM Saifur Rashid sought nomination for the constituency.
Besides them, the BNP’s Ruhul Alam Chowdhury, its allies Bangladesh Jatiya Party’s Andaleeve Rahman and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD’s Nazrul Islam, PDP’s Ali Haider BaSaD’s SM Ahsan Habib, Jaker Party’s Quazi Md Rashidul Hasan, Islami Andolan’s Md Aminul Haque Talukder and independent candidate Mohammad Wakil Uddin are still in the race for the seat.
RELATED STORIES
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged voters to elect Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the illustrious ODI cricket captain and Awami League candidate for Narail-2, in the Dec 30 polls.
The Awami League has received a record percentage of votes in the recent general election that also served BNP its biggest ever defeat.
The ruling Awami League has given its initial approval to the candidates who will compete for the party in the coming 11th parliamentary election.
