SANTHIA, PABNA, Jan 18: For the upcoming 13th national parliament election, 18 January was the last day for submitting nomination papers for the Pabna-1 (Santhia) constituency, following the revised schedule announced by the Election Commission.
On the final day, nomination papers were submitted by BNP's nominated candidate and former general secretary of Santhia Upazila BNP VP Shamsur Rahman, and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's nominated candidate Barrister Dr. Nazibur Rahman Momen.
Additionally, nomination papers were submitted by former student leader and Central Jubo Dal leader Masudul Haque Masud, former convener of Santhia Upazila BNP Khairunnahar Khanam Miru, independent candidate Professor Abu Sayeed, candidate of Islami Andolan Bangladesh Qayyede Azam, and independent candidate Tajul Islam.
On Sunday, they submitted their nomination papers to Pabna Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Shahed Mostafa, and to Santhia Upazila Executive Officer and Assistant Returning Officer Riju Tamanna at the Upazila Nirbahi Officer's office.
Present during the submission of nomination papers by BNP's nominated candidate VP Shamsur Rahman were: Former vice-president of Santhia Upazila BNP Fazlul Bari Santu, former joint general secretary Shahjahan Ali, President of Santhia Municipality BNP Abdul Karim, and General Secretary Sirajul Islam Siraj. Present during the submission of nomination papers by Jamaat-e-Islami's nominated candidate Barrister Dr. Nazibur Rahman Momen were: Upazila Jamaat Amir and former Upazila Chairman Maulana Mokhlesur Rahman, Secretary Assistant Professor Anisur Rahman, former Ameer and Upazila Shura member Maulana Abdul Quddus, and Upazila Jamaat Vice-President Firoz Hossain.
According to the schedule announcement, the deadline for submitting nomination papers was 18 January. Scrutiny of nominations by the Returning Officer will be on 19 January. The period for filing appeals against the scrutiny decisions is from 20 to 24 January. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 26 January. Symbol allocation will be on 27 January. Voting will be held on 12 February.
Contextually, the EC had demarcated the boundaries of the Pabna-1 constituency comprising Santhia upazila, and the Pabna-2 constituency comprising Sujanagar and Bera upazilas. Earlier, on 24 December, somewhat abruptly, it had demarcated the Pabna-1 constituency comprising Santhia upazila and one municipality and four unions of Bera upazila. The remaining part of Bera upazila and Sujanagar upazila were made the Pabna-2 constituency. Following the Appellate Division's verdict, the Election Commission has reverted to the previous boundaries. After much drama, the Election Commission had postponed the election on 10 January.
