56 regain candidacy on appeal

Fifty-six candidates, whose nomination papers were initially cancelled by the Election Commission, yesterday got their candidacy back through appeal hearing.

On the other hand, 32 aspirants lost appeal while the commission deferred its decision on six candidates.

The commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal, delivered the verdict after reviewing the appeals at the Agargaon Election Commission building on Sunday (10 December).

The EC will hear appeals until 15 December.

Aspiring candidates must participate in these hearings along with their legal representatives and the essential documentation for their defence.

If dissatisfied with the decision, they will have the option to seek reconsideration through the High Court.

Among those who regained their candidature yesterday included Mahi B Chowdhury, Hero Alam, Doly Shaontoni and Nasirul Islam Khan.

The nomination of Mahi B Chowdhury, a candidate of Bikalpadhara Bangladesh for Munshiganj-1 constituency, was cancelled on a charge of defaulting loans.

Candidacy of Singer Doly Shaontoni, a candidate of the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement for the Pabna-2 constituency, was cancelled on a charge of defaulting on credit card debt.

The candidacy of youtuber Ashraful Hossain Alom, widely known as Hero Alom, for the Bogra-4 constituency, was cancelled on a charge of wrongly filing the nomination paper.

Apart from this, the nomination of Awami League-nominated candidate for Kishoreganj-3 Nasirul Islam Khan was cancelled on a charge of concealment of lawsuit information.

Appeals for reinstating candidacy for the upcoming 12th national election began on 5 December and were accepted until 9 December.

Earlier, the commission nullified the nomination papers of 731 out of 2,716 aspirants due to issues ranging from signature discrepancies, loan or bill defaults, and dual citizenship during the scrutiny process.