Zahangir seeks High Court intervention to regain his Gazipur mayor candidacy

Meanwhile, a senior Awami League leader last week said action would be taken against Zahangir for breaching the party's "discipline" after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returns home

Former Gazipur City mayor Zahangir Alam has moved the High Court to overturn an Election Commission decision to bar him from running for Gazipur City mayor as an independent.

Zahangir's counsel Nakib Saiful Islam submitted the petition on Sunday, a week after Gazipur's Returning Officer Faridul Islam rejected his candidacy plea, citing Zahangir's status as a "loan defaulter" according to Bangladesh Bank's Credit Information Bureau.

The beleaguered former mayor then appealed the decision with an appellate election authority, but it upheld the returning officer's position ahead of the May 25 vote.

"My client is seeking the higher court's intervention to regain his candidacy. The chief election commissioner, the returning officer in Gazipur have been made respondent to the petition," lawyer Nakib said.

Meanwhile, Zahangir is apparently on the verge of getting into trouble with his own party again, four months after being re-admitted into the Awami League.

Last week, Awami League's Dhaka Divisional Organizing Secretary Mirza Azam said action would be taken against Zahangir for breaching the party's "discipline" after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned home.

Awami League this year is backing the candidacy of Azmat Ullah Khan, who had lost to a BNP candidate in 2013.

Many critics believe Zahangir divided the ruling party's votes by running as an independent in 2013 in a city generally considered an Awami League stronghold.

Once a force in city politics, Zahangir was ejected by the Awami League and suspended from the post of Gazipur mayor over allegations of making an objectionable statement about Bangabandhu and reports of irregularities in the Gazipur city unit of the party.

After he was expelled by the Awami League in 2021, he denied the allegations of making derogatory comments about Bangabandhu. The party reinstated him as a member in January under its amnesty scheme ahead of the general election.

WHY EC REJECTED ZAHANGIR's CANDIDACY

Though the information provided by Zahangir in his application was accurate, it was rejected because he had acted as a guarantor for defaulted bank loans.

In his defence, Zahangir vehemently rejected the narrative saying the company has regularised the payments, and he furnished relevant documents with his application for candidacy.

He also claimed that the bank officials testified about the regularised payments during the candidacy filing.

Zahangir was once the vice president of the Bangladesh Chhatra League central committee and was elected a vice-chairman of Gazipur Sadar Upazila Council.

In 2018, Zahangir won the mayoral post after defeating his rival from the BNP camp. His landslide margin of victory strengthened his political turf.

Meanwhile, the EC approved the nomination of Zahangir's mother, Zayeda Khatun, to run for the mayoral race.