93 more appeals filed with EC to get back candidacy
12 appeals so far against candidates declared valid
A total of 93 aspiring national election candidates yesterday appealed to the Election Commission (EC) against the returning officers' decision regarding the cancellation of their nominations, taking the total number of appeals to 419 in three days.
On the fourth day, aggrieved candidates filed seven different appeals against the valid candidacies, taking the total number of such appeals to 12.
Among these, independent candidate AK Azad filed a petition to invalidate the candidacy of Shamim Haque, the Awami League's nominee for Faridpur-3 (Sadar), asserting that Haque is a citizen of the Netherlands.
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Additionally, Nasirul Islam Khan of AL in Kishoreganj-3 has appealed for the cancellation of Jatiya Party's Mujibul Haque Chunnu's candidacy.
Nasirul Islam had previously appealed against the EC's decision to reject his own nomination, stating, "Today, I filed an appeal seeking cancellation of Jatiya Party candidate Mujibul Haque Chunnu's candidature due to loan default."
Petitions were also filed for Mymensingh-8, Comilla-3, Comilla-4, Patuakhali-1, and Cox's Bazar-1 constituencies yesterday.
On Thursday, aggrieved candidates filed two appeals against validated candidates from two constituencies.
Independent candidate of Chattogram-10, Mohammad Manjur Alam, appealed against AL's Md Mohiuddin Bachchu, citing the concealment of information related to a murder case by the Awami League candidate.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Nationalist Movement candidate Sukriti Kumar Mondal appealed on Thursday against Enamul Haque Babul, the AL candidate in Jessore-4 seat, accusing his rival of defaulting on a loan.
The constituency's incumbent, Ranajit Kumar Roy, also filed an appeal against Babul on the previous day, accusing the AL candidate of being a defaulter.
On Wednesday, the incumbent of Barishal-5 and State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruk appealed against the nomination of Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, alleging the independent candidate withheld information in his affidavit.
In the appeal, Zahid Faruk stated that Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah has dual citizenship and failed to mention his property in the US and a plot in the capital in his affidavit.
Additionally, incumbent Jatiya Party MP Fakhrul Imam appealed against independent candidate Hasan Mahmud from the Mymensingh-8 constituency. Fakhrul Imam will contest the polls from this constituency.
The appeal process for regaining candidacy to participate in the upcoming 12th national election began on 5 December at the Election Commission in the capital's Agargaon area. Appeals can be filed until December 9.
The EC will dispose of 100 petitions daily from 10-15 December.
The EC cancelled the nomination papers of 731 out of 2,716 aspirants, citing complications related to signature, loan or bill default, and dual citizenship as reasons for the cancellations.
