Rangpur: All nine female candidates contesting the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election in Rangpur division have lost their security deposits after failing to secure at least one-eighth of the cast votes in their respective constituencies. In the recently concluded 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections, a total of nine women, including four independent candidates, contested the election in various parliamentary constituencies in eight districts of Rangpur division, which consists of 33 seats.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Anwara Islam Rani, who campaigned as the only independent candidate from the Hijra (transgender) community, announced her withdrawal four days before the election and lost her security deposit. Despite the efforts, none of the female candidates could secure a significant number of votes, resulting in the loss of their deposits.
The total results received at the Rangpur Regional Election Office showed that these female candidates received votes ranging from 153 to 2,876 in their respective constituencies. In the Rangpur-3 constituency (Sadar and Rangpur City), BNP founding member Reita Rahman contested as an independent candidate with the ‘Sunflower’ symbol and received 461 votes. Pragati Barman Toma of the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal-Marxist received 243 votes in the Rangpur-4 (Pirgachha and Kawnia) constituency with the ‘Scissors’ symbol.
In Rangpur-6 (Pirganj) constituency, independent candidate Takiya Jahan Chowdhury garnered 153 votes with the ‘Sunflower’ symbol. Jatiya Party candidate Nurun Nahar Begum received 2,876 votes with the ‘Plough’ symbol in the Thakurgaon-2 (Baliadangi, Haripur, and Ranisankail) constituency. Meanwhile, in the Thakurgaon-3 (Ranisankail, Pirganj) constituency, independent candidate Asha Moni collected 279 votes with the ‘Football’ symbol.
In Gaibandha-1 (Sundarganj) constituency, independent candidate Chalma Akhter received 378 votes with the ‘Pitcher’ symbol. In Gaibandha-5 (Phulchhari and Shagufta) constituency, Rahela Khatun of the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal-Marxist secured 249 votes with the ‘Scissors’ symbol. In Dinajpur-3 (Sadar) constituency, Kibria Hossain of the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal-BASOD got 283 votes with the ‘Ladder’ symbol, while Laila Tul Rima of the Bangladesh Muslim League received 214 votes with the ‘Hurricane’ symbol.
Additionally, despite announcing her withdrawal from the election, independent candidate Anwara Islam Rani from the transgender community received 230 votes with the ‘Deer’ symbol.