13 valid, 8 cancelled, 4 suspended in Jhalakathi

JHALAKATHI, Jan 3: After scrutiny of nomination papers in Jhalakathi's two constituencies - Jhalakathi-1 and Jhalakathi-2 - the returning officer has declared 13 valid, cancelled 8, and kept 4 nominations suspended.

In Jhalakathi-1, eight candidates were cleared, including Rafiqul Islam Jamal of BNP. The nomination of Mostafizur Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Labour Party, was cancelled due to missing signatures of proposer and seconder. Four independent candidates and one candidate of Gono Odhikar Parishad (GOP) were also rejected for loan default and discrepancies in the one percent voter list requirement.

The nominations of Faizul Haque of Jamaat-e-Islami and Rubel Hawlader of Jatiya Party (JP) were kept suspended.In Jhalakathi-2, five candidates were declared valid, including Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto of BNP and Sheikh Neamul Karim of Jamaat-e-Islami.

The nomination of MA Kuddus Khan of Jatiya Party was cancelled for loan default, while two independent candidates were rejected for errors in voter list accuracy. The nominations of Mahmudul Islam Sagor of GOP and Masud Parvez of JSD were suspended.

Election officials said, candidates whose nominations were cancelled or suspended will have the opportunity to appeal. The final list of candidates will be published after disposal of appeals.