The ruling Awami League lawmaker Talukder Abdul Khaleque today resigned from the parliament in a bid to contest in the mayoral election of Khulna City Corporation (KCC).

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury informed this to the parliament.

The AL recently nominated MP Khalek as its mayoral candidate in the Khulna city elections. According to the rules, he will have to resign from the parliament to contest the local government body election.

On March 3, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda announced the elections schedule of Gazipur and Khulna city corporations for May 15.

According to the schedule, the deadline for the submission of nomination papers is April 12, while the dates for scrutinising those are April 15 and 16; and the last date for withdrawal is April 23.

BNP candidates Moniruzzaman Moni and Prof MA Mannan were elected mayors in Khulna and Gazipur respectively in 2013 polls.