Aspiring candidates from BNP ticket, Golam Maula Roni, Morshed Miltan, Md Faridul Kabir Talukdar and Tamijuddin have been cleared to run for the general election.

The Election Commission cleared them off the rejection list after holding appeal hearing at the commission’s Agargaon office this morning.

Nominations of Golam Maula Roni from Patuakhali-3, Morshed Miltan from Bogura-7, Md Faridul Kabir Talukdar from Jamalpur-4 and Md Tamijuddin from Dhaka-20 were all rejected during scrutiny.

All in all, 15 hearings were complete until last reported this morning, among which 7 were ruled legal to compete for the general elections.

Notably, Roni was a previous Awami League lawmaker who swapped sides to run in the upcoming general elections from the opposition BNP.

WHEN IS THE ELECTION?

Election Commission has revised polls schedule, deferring the 11th general election by a week to December 30 – a decision taken on November 12.

The authorities have fixed November 28 as the deadline for filing nomination papers, December 2 for scrutiny and December 9 last date of withdrawal.

The move came following demands from several opposition political parties.

IS EVERYONE PARTICIPATING?

Chief Election Commissioner has said that there is a congenial atmosphere in the country – echoing the words of the ruling party.

However, major opposition alliances like the Jatiya Oikyafront, which includes BNP, and the Bikalpa Dhara-led Juktafront have sought for delaying the schedule.

Until thus far, it seems that the coming parliamentary election will not be the “non-participatory election” that was its predecessor.

All the major political parties are gearing up to contest in the election and there has been no threats of a boycott or withdrawal unlike the last time.