Staff Reporter :
The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday cancelled the nomination papers of two BNP-backed mayoral candidates Abdul Awal Mintoo and Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, along with three others, for taking part in the Dhaka city corporation elections.
Mintoo submitted nomination as a contestant for Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), while Pintu was a candidate for Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).
The respective returning officers accepted the nominations of 19 candidates out of 21 for the DNCC and 23 out of 26 DSCC candidates for the upcoming elections, taking place on April 28.
The disqualified aspirants will have a chance to challenge the decision with the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner, the appellate authority regarding nominations.
Mintoo’s nomination was cancelled as his supporter Abdur Razzak is not a voter of the DNCC area, Returning Officer Shah Alam said.
Abdullah Al Harun Sohel, the Secretary of Mintoo, said the BNP leader would appeal to the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner against the decision on Thursday.
The nomination of Pintu was cancelled as he was convicted in BDR mutiny case, an EC source said.
The nomination of Babul Sardar Chakhari as a mayoral candidate of DSCC was turned down on charge of loan default, while Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, also the candidate for DSCC Mayor, was denied for not submitting the income tax return. The nomination of Nayeem Hasan, candidate for DNCC, was cancelled on charge of loan default.
The aspirants can challenge the decision with the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner within the next three days. The election commission will scrutinize nomination papers the councilor candidates on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has already provided the EC with a list of 81 mayoral and councillor candidates, who are allegedly involved in criminal activities.
As sought by the EC earlier, the DMP sent the list of the candidates allegedly involved in various criminal activities, Moniruil Islam, joint-commissioner (Detective Branch) of the DMP, said.
The EC wanted to know from the DMP whether the candidates who had submitted their nomination papers are facing any criminal case or not.
Briefing reporters at DMP Media Centre in the afternoon, Monirul Islam said the list included the names of 12 mayoral and 65 councillor candidates of 20 wards, and four women reserved seat councillor candidates against 19 seats of both the DSCC and DNCC. He, however, said the arrest of the listed candidates will depend on Investigation Officers concerned.
