HC restores Hero Alom’s candidacy in bypolls. He wants to use the lion symbol

The social media star will be allowed to run in the Bogura-4 and Bogura-6 polls

The High Court has ordered election officials to accept the nomination papers of social media star Ashraful Hossen Alom aka Hero Alom for the Bogura-4 (Kahalu-Nandigram) and Bogura-6 (Sadar) parliamentary bypolls and grant him a symbol accordingly.

Hero Alom said he received ‘justice’ and wanted to use the lion symbol in the election.

The Bogura returning officer scrapped Hero Alom’s candidacy after noting issues with some of the signatures required to run as a candidate. The Election Commission upheld the returning officer’s decision on Sunday.

Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir issued the order to the Bogura returning officer (the deputy commissioner) on Tuesday.

The court decision removed the legal barrier preventing Hero Alom from competing in the bypolls as an independent candidate, said his lawyer Iyarul Islam.

Following the decision, Hero Alom said he had expected a ‘proper judgment’ from the court and received it.

“I got justice, which I expected,” he said. “There was only a bit of harassment and a bit of time wasted along the way.”

The social media star said he was leaving Dhaka for Bogura on Tuesday.

The Bogura-4 and Bogura-6 seats were vacated by BNP MPs as they joined the opposition party’s anti-government campaign.

The EC set Feb 1 for the bypolls accordingly. Hero Alom submitted nomination papers to both seats.