BNP leader Tarique Rahman added to voter roll

It comes a day after he completed the registration formalities

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has been added to Bangladesh’s voter list, a day after completing the registration formalities.

The Election Commission's spokesman Ruhul Amin Mollik said on Sunday that the commission had approved the inclusion of Tarique's name in the voter roll.

The decision was taken unanimously by the AMM Nasir Uddin-led EC.

Registration as a voter is a legal requirement for contesting parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. Under election laws, candidates must be registered voters to run for parliament, and citizens aged 25 or above are eligible to contest. For national elections, candidates may be registered as voters in any constituency.

Tarique, as well as his daughter Zaima Rahman, completed the registration process on Saturday at the Election Training Institute (ETI) building in Agargaon, where he provided fingerprints, iris scans and other biometric information.

Officials from the National Identity Registration Wing had earlier said it would take a maximum of one day for him to receive a national identity card after submitting biometric data.

The development comes as the deadline for collecting and submitting nomination papers for the Feb 12 general election ends on Dec 29. Nomination papers have already been collected on Tarique's behalf for the Bogura-6 and Dhaka-17 constituencies.

Bangladesh first prepared a photo-based voter list in 2007–08, when Tarique was in prison. After his release in 2008, he travelled to the UK for medical treatment and remained abroad for more than 17 years, meaning he did not receive a national identity card during that period.

Tarique returned to Bangladesh on Dec 25 following political changes brought about by last year's July Uprising.