Jamaat’s Abdul Haq loses nomination over loan default; two others cleared in Dhaka-2 race

BNP’s Amanullah Aman and Islami Andolan’s Zahirul Islam are cleared as valid candidates

Jamaat-e-Islami nominated candidate Abdul Haq’s nomination paper for Dhaka-2 constituency has been cancelled on grounds of loan default.

The announcement came Saturday from Returning Officer and Dhaka District Commissioner Rezaul Karim during the scrutiny of nomination papers.

Addressing Haq, Rezaul said: “According to the Credit Information Bureau (CIB) report, you are a loan defaulter. If there were issues, you should have updated them with CIB. You are officially listed as a defaulter by Bangladesh Bank. We cannot accept your nomination at this stage. However, you have the right to appeal.”

The returning officer also noted Haq had failed to submit his income tax return Form 10B, a photocopy of his national ID card, and details of his proposer and seconder.

Three candidates submitted nomination papers in Dhaka-2. Apart from Haq, the other two are BNP’s Amanullah Aman and Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s Zahirul Islam. Their nominations have been declared valid.

Rezaul explained that Aman’s papers initially had gaps regarding case documents: “At first, there was a missing order related to a police report in one case. Now we have received it. The complications have been resolved, and your nomination is accepted as valid.”

The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the 13th parliamentary election was Dec 29. Scrutiny began the following day and will continue until Jan 4.

Candidates whose nominations are rejected may appeal to the Election Commission within the stipulated time. After appeals are settled, the final list of candidates will be published.

Dhaka-2 constituency has 419,215 registered voters. As per Election Commission guidelines, each candidate may spend a maximum of Tk 10 per voter.

According to the election schedule, the 13th national election will be held on Feb 12.