35 Awami League nominees out of Jan 7 election race

Five of them have lost candidacies in the screening of their nomination papers, while the party leaves the 30 other seats for its allies

No fewer than 35 Awami League candidates have dropped out of the election race – five have lost candidacy in the screening of their nomination papers, while the party has left the 30 other seats for its allies to contest in the parliamentary polls.

The ruling party now has candidates for 263 seats after it had initially announced 298 nominees.

The Jatiya Party has thrown candidates for 283 seats with its plough symbol, including 25 who will enjoy the Awami League’s support.

The Awami League has left six seats for its partners in the 14-Party Alliance. They will get the ruling party’s boat symbol.

It had earlier named no candidate for Narayanganj-5 and Kushtia-2. Jatiya Party leader AKM Salim Osman is the candidate for the Narayanganj seat while Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq will fight for the Kushtia seat with the Awami League’s boat symbol.

5 AL CANDIDATES LOST CANDIDACIES IN SCREENING

The Election Commission scrapped the nomination of Salah Uddin Ahmed, the Awami League candidate for Cox’s Bazar-1, because he had defaulted on loans. It also dismissed his appeal challenging the decision.

Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, the Ganatantri Party chairman who left the BNP-led alliance amid the opposition party’s boycott of the election, is running for the seat.

Shammi Ahmed’s candidacy for Barishal-4 was scrapped because of her dual citizenship. The influential member of the ruling party’s sub-committee on international affairs also lost the appeal.

Pankaj Debnath, the Awami League MP running as an independent, is the candidate for the seat.

Shahmim Haque of Faridpur-3 also lost his candidacy over dual citizenship.

The two other Awami League nominees who lost candidacies in the EC screening are Enamul Haque Babul of Jashore-4 and Abdus Salam of Mymensingh-9 – both loan defaulters.

25 AL CANDIDATES OUT OF RACE BECAUSE OF JATIYA PARTY

The 25 Awami League candidates who are out of the race because of the party’s decision to leave those for the Jatiya Party are:

Md Imdadul Haque of Thakurgaon-3

Md Golam Mostafa of Nilphamari-3

Md Zakir Hossain Babul of Nilphamari-4

Md Rezaul Karim Razu of Rangpur-1

Tushar Kanti Mandal of Rangpur-3

Md Aslam Hossain Sawdagar of Kurigram-1

Md Zafar Ali of Kurigram-2

Afruza Bari of Gaibandha-1

Mahbub Ara Begum Gini of Gaibandha-2

Towhidur Rahman Manik of Bagura-2

Md Sirajul Islam Khan Raju of Bogura-3

Md Asaduzzaman Babu of Satkhira-2

Md Afzal Hossain of Patuakhali-1

Sarder Md Khaled Hossain of Barishal-3

Md Ashrafur Rahman of Pirojpur-3

Md Abdul Hye Akand of Mymensingh-5

Md Abdus Sattar of Mymensingh-8

Md Nasirul Islam Khan of Kishoreganj-3

Md Abdus Salam of Manikganj-1

Mohammad Habib Hossain of Dhaka-18

Md Mushfique Hossain Chowdhury of Habiganj-1

Md Shahjahan Alam of Brahmanbaria-2

Md Abul Bashar of Feni-3

Mohammad Abdus Salam of Chattogram-5

Noman Al Mahmud of Chattogram-8

5 OUT FOR 14-PARTY ALLIANCE

Besides Kushtia-2 for Inu, the Awami League has ceded five seats for the 14-Party Alliance.

The Awami League candidates for these seats were:

Md Helaluddin Kabiraj of Bogura-4

Mohammad Ali of Rajshahi-2

Talukder Md Yunus of Barishal-2

Kanailal Biswas of Pirojpur-2

Faridunnahar Laily of Lakshmipur-4.