Salman F Rahman routs Salma Islam to win Dhaka-1 seat

The Awami League victor bagged 150,005 votes, while Salma secured 34,930

Salman F Rahman, the prime minister's private industry and investment adviser, has retained the Dhaka-1 constituency with a resounding victory over the Jatiya Party's Salma Islam.

The Awami League candidate bagged a whopping 150,005 votes, while Salma secured 34,930.

The Nawabganj and Dohar Assistant Returning Officers Kamrul Hasan Sohel and Zakir Hossain announced the results on Sunday.

As many as 513,609 people are registered voters for the Dhaka-1 seat, comprising 14 unions of Nawabganj Upazila, and 8 unions and one municipality of Dohar Upazila.

Dhaka-1 was one of the seats contested by both the Awami League and the Jatiya Party in 2014.

Salma, the chairman of the Jamuna Group and wife of the conglomerate's founder, Nurul Islam Babul, defeated the Awami League's Abdul Mannan Khan in the polls.

In 2018, the Jatiya Party gave up the seat in an agreement as part of the Grand Alliance, resulting in victory for Salman.

The former minister of state for women and children affairs, Salma ran as an independent candidate after she failed to secure a party nomination that year.

Salman received 302,993 votes, while Salma won only 37,763.

Despite losing the race for Dhaka-1, Salma was later chosen as MP to a parliamentary seat reserved for women.