Staff Reporter :The BNP’s two mayoral candidates Abdul Awal Mintoo and Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu on Thursday filed appeal with the Divisional Commissioner of Dhaka challenging the cancellation of their nomination papers by Returning Officers of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) respectively.The Divisional Commissioner, who holds the election appellate authority, will hear their appeals on Saturday. It means that the fate of Abdul Awal Mintoo and Nasir Uddin Ahmed Pintu will be decided on SaturdayBarrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon submitted the appeal for Mintoo, while Advocate Aminul Islam did it for Pintu. Earlier, Returning Officers cancelled the nomination papers of Mintoo and Pintu on Wednesday. Mintoo’s nomination was cancelled, as his supporter Abdur Razzak is not a voter of the Dhaka North. Barrister Khokon blamed the Election Commission’s (EC) ‘faulty voter list’, for cancellation of Mintoo’s nomination.Pintu, presently in prison, was disqualified from contesting in the election as he had been convicted in BDR mutiny case of 2009. Apart from Mintoo and Pintu, another Mayor candidate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury also filed an appeal against his disqualification. His appeal will also be heard on Saturday. The EC also found the nominations of 19 Mayor candidates, including the nomination of Mintoo’s son Tabith Awal, valid out of 21 for the DNCC and 23 candidates out of 26 for DSCC.Meanwhile, the Returning Officer of DNCC found the nominations of 559 Councillor candidates out of 628 valid after scrutiny on Thursday, while rejected the candidatures of 69 aspirants, Assistant Election Officer Nazrul Islam said.The Returning Officer found the nominations of 413 Councillor candidates out of 501 aspirants from Ward 13 to 57 of DSCC, while 88 candidates invalid, Assistant Returning Officer of DSCC Noabul Islam said. A total of 785 Councillor aspirants submitted nominations for DSCC. The papers of the remaining candidates will be examined on Friday, he added. Disqualified candidates can appeal within three days from the date of cancellation of nomination papers. As per Election schedule, the deadline for the withdrawal of nomination papers is April 9. The elections are slated for April 28.
