BNP’s big names missing in candidate lineup
As the 13th National Parliamentary Election approaches, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has announced its preliminary list of probable candidates for 237 constituencies. Several heavyweight leaders have been left out of the list. Out of the 300 seats, BNP has yet to announce candidates for 63 constituencies. A significant portion of these remaining seats may be reserved for top leaders of allied parties and coalition partners.
The party’s Secretary General, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, announced the preliminary candidate list on Monday (November 3) at a press conference held at the BNP Chairperson’s political office in Gulshan.
The list notably excludes several prominent leaders. Missing names include Standing Committee members Nazrul Islam Khan and Begum Selima Rahman; Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi; Joint Secretary General Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel; newly appointed Joint Secretary General Humayun Kabir; and advisers to the BNP Chairperson, Abdus Salam, Moazzem Hossain Alal, and Aminur Rashid Yasin. Vice Chairman Asaduzzaman Ripon is also absent.
Barrister Rumin Farhana, former member of the reserved seats in the 11th Parliament and BNP’s co-Secretary for International Affairs, who was considered a potential candidate, is also missing from the list.
From Dhaka-10, previous BNP candidates such as International Affairs Secretary Nasir Uddin Asim and Robiul Islam Robi have been left out. In Magura, Robiul Islam Noyon, Secretary of BNP’s Dhaka South City unit of Juba Dal, who sought party nomination, was also excluded.
Additionally, several family members of senior BNP leaders have been omitted. A party source said BNP had previously decided not to nominate multiple candidates from the same family. As a result, Salahuddin Ahmed’s wife Hasina Ahmed, Mirza Abbas’ wife Afroza Abbas, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku’s wife, and former MP Rumana Mahmud were excluded.
However, in constituencies where senior BNP leaders had previously contested, nominations were granted to their children or spouses in some cases due to the death of the previous incumbents.