Jahangir Alam's nomination paper also rejected in appeal

The Dhaka divisional election commissioner on Thursday also rejected the appeal of suspended Gazipur City Corporation mayor Jahangir Alam.

Dhaka divisional commissioner Md Sabirul Islam rejected the appeal after holding a hearing on it at the Divisional Election Commissioner's office on Thursday afternoon.

GCC election returning officer's representative and Bhederganj upazila election officer Manzur Hossain Khan who took part in the hearing said a total of seven candidates whose nomination papers were cancelled during the scrutiny on Tuesday had appealed against the cancellation. They were -- GCC mayoral candidate Jahangir Alam, a councilor candidate from reserved post and five general ward councilor candidates.

Manzur Hossain Khan said Jahangir Alam along with his two lawyers were present during the hearing. During the hearing, they said that they had already deposited money for rescheduling the loans. They also pointed out that a guarantor of a bank loan can never be called a defaulter. So, Jahangir Alam was not a loan defaulter.

At that time, a Bangladesh Bank official said the appellants are still 'loan defaulters' according to the law of the central bank.

He said that the loan of the bank concerned for which Jahangir Alam acted as a guarantor has not been rescheduled yet. 
At that time, the an EC offcial said Jahangir Alam and other candidates were loan defaulters during the submission of nomination papers. "So, they will remain so even if they pay money for loan rescheduling."

Hearing the statements of both sides, Dhaka divisional commissioner Md Sabirul Islam upheld the orders of cancellation of nomination papers of seven candidates including Jahangir Alam.

Despite several attempts to contact with Jahangir Alam to know his reactions over his mobile phone, he did not respond.

On April 30, GCC election returning officer Faridul Islam cancelled Jahangir Alam's nomination paper over loan default.

"Jahangir Alam is a defaulter; so the EC is cancelling his candidature. His mother and independent candidate Zayeda Khatun is cleared to run for office," Faridul Islam said.

Earlier, Jahangir Alam sought nomination from the ruling Awami League but failed to get the party ticket. He later submitted nomination paper to vie in the election as an independent candidate.

The ruling party nominated Gazipur city AL president Azmat Ullah Khan as their mayoral candidate. He is Gazipur City Awami League president.

Jahangir Alam was elected as mayor in the previous election of GCC. But, he was expelled in November 2021 for his remarks against Bangabandhu and his party. Then he lost his mayoral post. However, his expulsion order was withdrawn in January this year on condition that he would follow the party disciplines.