First phase of upazila polls: 1,891 aspirants submit nomination papers

A total of 1,891 aspirants submitted nomination papers for contesting in the first phase of upazila elections slated for May 8.

In this phase, 150 upazilas will go to polls. Today was the last day for submission of nomination papers.

A total of 696 aspirants submitted the nominations for the chairman positions, 724 for the vice chairman and 471 for the vice chairman reserved for the women, Election Commission additional secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told The Daily Star this afternoon.

The Election Commission this year made it mandatory for all the aspirants of upazila elections to submit nomination papers online, he said.

"We did not receive news of any untoward incident over the submission of nomination papers", he added.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 22 and the nomination papers will be scrutinised on April 17.

In the first phase, electronic voting machines will be used in 22 upazilas of Shariatpur, Chandpur, Jamalpur, Pabna, Sirajganj, Jashore, Pirojpur, Manikganj and Cox's Bazar.

The sixth upazila parishad polls in Bangladesh will be held in four phases.

The second phase of the elections will be held on May 21 in 61 upazilas around the country.

The commission is likely to hold the third phase election on May 29 and the fourth phase on June 5.