Ranga's nomination for Rangpur-1 restored hours after suspension
Returning Officer Mohammad Mobashwer Hasan announced the validation of Ranga's nomination papers this afternoon
Independent candidate Mashiur Rahman Ranga's nomination papers for the Rangpur-1 (Gangachara) constituency has been declared valid, hours after its suspension by the Election Commission due to essential document insufficiency in a case by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Returning Officer Mohammad Mobashwer Hasan announced the validation of Ranga's nomination papers at the Rangpur District Commissioner's office on Saturday following the submission of the required documents by the expelled Jatiya Party leader.
The returning officer said out of the 12 candidates for this seat, nominations of nine were validated, two were suspended, and one was cancelled.
Valid candidates for this seat include Rezaul Karim of Awami League, Jatiya Party's Hossain Maqbul Shahriar, Trinamool BNP's Badruddoza Chowdhury, National People's Party's Habibur Rahman, Bangladesh Congress nomited candidate Shymoli Roy, independent candidates Mashiur Rahman Ranga, and Shahin Alam; former general secretary of upazila Awami League Asaduzzaman Bablu, and independent candidate Manjum Ali, Bangladesh Sanskritik Muktijote candidate Sabuj Mia, and Workers Party candidate Bakhtiar Ahmed. Additionally, the nomination of independent candidate Mosharof Hossain was cancelled due to discrepancies in the mandatory 1% support from the voters of the mentioned constituency.
Ranga, former general secretary of the Jatiya Party, was the member of 11th parliament for this constituency. He secured victory in the 2014 and 2018 elections as a Jatiya Party candidate.
Jatiya Party nominated candidates for 289 seats in the upcoming parliamentary election, excluding Mashiur Rahman Ranga. The party's General Secretary Mojibul Haque Chunnu clarified that Ranga's expulsion from all party positions led to his exclusion from the nominations.
Ranga had submitted nomination papers as an independent candidate for the Rangpur-1 seat. His opponent for this seat is Asif Shahriar, the nephew of Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader.