Dhaka: The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday allowed 53 previously rejected aspirants to contest the February-12 national election after hearings, while two Jamaat candidates for Dhaka-2 and Cumilla-3 were declared invalid.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the EC, acting as the Electoral Appeal Tribunal, turned down the appeal petitions of 15 other aspirants, including BNP aspirant TS Ayub in Jashore-4, thus keeping them out of the electoral race. The Commission, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, also rejected two other petitions filed against valid candidates, upholding their candidature.
The 53 aspirants include two Jamaat candidates, Abdul Haque in Dhaka-2 and Yusuf Sohel in Cumilla-3, along with four Jatiya Party candidates: Akbar Hossain in Bhola-1, Lutfur Rahman Ripon in Panchagarh-2, Golam Mostafa Kalam in Cumilla-9, and Ayub Hossain in Kishoreganj-6. Abdul Haque, also the Chairman of the Retired Armed Forces Officers Welfare Association (RAOWA), will now contest against BNP candidate Amanullah Aman and Islami Andolan Bangladesh contestant Jahirul Islam in the constituency for the upcoming parliamentary election.
In Cumilla-3, Jamaat candidate Yusuf Sohel will compete with seven others, including BNP nominee Kazi Shah Mofazzel Hossain (Kaikobad). Meanwhile, BNP candidate TS Ayub’s appeal was rejected on grounds of loan default in Jashore-4, but BNP still has Matiar Rahman Faraji running in the same constituency.
With the addition of these 53 aspirants, a total of 203 candidates have re-entered the electoral race since the EC began hearing appeal petitions. These appeals were filed by aggrieved aspirants against the initial decisions of returning officers regarding the acceptance and cancellation of nomination papers.
During the appeal hearings, an independent candidate lost his candidacy following an appeal by a rival in the Brahmanbaria-1 constituency. Additionally, 61 other invalid aspirants failed to return to the race as their appeal petitions were rejected. The Commission is set to hear and dispose of 645 petitions by January 18.
A total of 2,568 aspirants submitted nomination papers within the December-29 deadline to run in the upcoming national election across the country’s 300 constituencies. Of these, 1,842 nomination papers were declared valid, while 723 were deemed invalid during the scrutiny process.
The Election Commission announced the polls schedule on December 11, setting the 13th parliamentary election and a referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order for February 12, 2026. According to the schedule, the last date for withdrawal of candidature is January 20, with the election campaign running from January 22 to 48 hours before the balloting period on February 10.