Key BNP leaders, senior officials missing from initial 237-candidate slate for February election

Fakhrul said the list is provisional and changes could follow discussions with party partners and stakeholders

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has released the first batch of 237 potential candidates for the next national election, but several senior leaders were conspicuously absent.

The announcement came at a press conference on Monday at the party chairperson’s office in Gulshan, Dhaka, where Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir read out the names.

The briefing followed a marathon three-and-a-half-hour meeting attended virtually by Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman from London.

Of the 14-member BNP standing committee, 10 were included in the initial list, leaving out veteran leaders Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Nazrul Islam Khan, and Selima Rahman. Notably, Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar’s son, Barrister Muhammad Naushad Jamir, has been nominated from Panchagarh-1.

Among the 21 vice-chairmen, Shamsuzzaman Dudu and Asaduzzaman Ripon were excluded from the first list. From the joint secretary generals, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Habib Un-Nabi-Khan Sohel, Abdus Salam Azad, and Humayun Kabir were left out.

Out of 81 members of the BNP chairperson’s advisory council, 22 have been nominated, leaving a majority off the slate.

Tarique Rahman will contest from Bogura-6, Khaleda Zia from Dinajpur-3, Bogura-7, and Feni-1, while Fakhrul will contest from Thakurgaon-1.

Other standing committee members contesting include Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain (Cumilla-1), Mirza Abbas (Dhaka-8), Gayeshwar Chandra Roy (Dhaka-3), Abdul Moyeen Khan (Narsingdi-2), Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury (Chattogram-10), Salahuddin Ahmed (Cox’s Bazar-1), Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku (Sirajganj-2), Hafiz Uddin Ahmed (Bhola-3), and AZM Zahid Hossain (Dinajpur-6).

Mirza Fakhrul emphasised the provisional nature of the list, saying: “We would like to make it clear that this is our list of potential candidates. Changes are possible, especially after discussions with our partners and stakeholders.”