HC scraps Zahangir’s plea to revive candidacy for Gazipur mayoral polls

The court scrapped the former Gazipur mayor's petition to contest the upcoming city corporation election

The High Court has rejected the plea of former Gazipur Mayor Zahangir Alam, blocking him from running for mayor of the city corporation as an independent candidate.

The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam scrapped the petition on Monday.

Attorneys Fida M Kamal, MK Rahman and Nakib Saiful Islam represented Jahangir at the hearing, while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state, accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Samrendra Nath Biswas.

“I did not take out a loan, I was a guarantor,” said Zahangir in his immediate response to the ruling. “Even then, the court dismissed my writ petition. I will discuss what to do next with my lawyers. I will take refuge in the Appellate Division.”

Zahangir's counsel Nakib 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.

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.

Action will be taken against Zahangir for breaching the party's "discipline" after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returns home, Awami League's Dhaka Divisional Organizing Secretary Mirza Azam said last week.

Awami League this year is backing the candidacy of Azmat Ullah Khan, who 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 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 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.