AL to pick DNCC mayoral candidate Jan 26

Awami League’s nomination board will sit on January 26 to determine their candidates for DNCC mayoral election and Kishoreganj-1 polls.

The party’s general secretary Obaidul Quader today confirmed the matter while replying to a query by journalists after a view-exchange meeting with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) employees at its headquarters.

The meeting will decide who will be contesting for the elections for Kishoreganj-1 constituency and the candidate for the DNCC mayoral by-election under the banner of Awami League, Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, told journalists at the meeting.

Asked whether the candidate for the Kishoreganj-1 constituency would be chosen from AL leader Syed Ashraful Islam’s family, Quader said, “The candidate acceptable to all will be selected for the polls.”

DNCC BY-POLLS

Election to councillor posts in the 36 new wards -- 18 under the DNCC and 18 under the Dhaka South City Corporation -- will be held on February 28.

According to the polls schedule, the last date for filing nomination papers for both in the DNCC by-polls and election to the new wards is January 30.

The returning officers will scrutinise the nomination papers on February 2, and the last date for withdrawing candidacy is February 9.

On January 16, the court cleared the way for the DNCC by-election and election in the new wards.

The DNCC mayoral post fell vacant following the death of Annisul Huq on November 30, 2017. He was elected mayor on April 28, 2015.

On January 9 last year, the EC had declared the schedule of the DNCC by-polls and election in the new wards, setting February 26 for the voting day.

The polls were not held as the HC stayed the election schedule for six months. The court order came following filing of three writ petitions that challenged the legality of the schedule.

KISHOREGANJ-1 POLLS

Kishoreganj-1 will go to election on February 28.

The parliamentary seat fell vacant as AL lawmaker Syed Ashraful Islam, also former public administration minister, passed away on January 3. 

He died four days after the December 30 polls. He could not take oath due to illness.

As per the schedule, the last date for submitting nomination papers has been fixed for January 31. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on February 3, and the last date for withdrawing those is February 10.