Rastro Songskar’s Hasnat Kaiyum knocked out of Kishoreganj-5 race after scrutiny

Across three Kishoreganj seats, 10 aspirants are out of contention due to eligibility issues

Hasnat Kaiyum, chief coordinator of Rastro Songskar Andolan, has been ruled ineligible to run for parliament from the Kishoreganj-5 constituency.

Independent aspirant Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Iqbal, president of the Upazila unit of the BNP, has also been barred from standing for that seat.

The verification process was carried out on Saturday between 10am and 1pm at the conference room of the district administration office.

It was overseen by Returning Officer and District Administrator Mohammad Aslam Mollah, Police Superintendent SM Farhad Hossain, and District Election Officer Md Morshed Alam.

During scrutiny, the candidacies of 10 aspirants across three Kishoreganj constituencies were cancelled. A total of 29 candidates had submitted nomination papers in these seats.

District Administrator Aslam said Iqbal was barred for concealing information related to a legal case.

He added that Kaiyum’s nomination was rejected due to discrepancies found in the mandatory list of one percent voters submitted with the nomination papers.

In Kishoreganj-4, nomination papers of Kazi Reha Kabir Sigma, the only female candidate in the district, were also rejected on similar grounds related to voter list discrepancies.

Most of the remaining seven candidates whose nominations were cancelled were independents.