Jara's nomination paper cancelled
The Election Commission (EC) has scrapped the nomination paper of Dr Tasnim Jara, an independent candidate for the Dhaka-9 constituency in the 13th parliamentary elections.
The Returning Officer announced her nomination paper invalid after scrutiny around 11:30 am on Saturday, January 3.
Speaking to reporters, Jara said she would file an appeal with the Election Commission (EC) challenging the cancellation.
“The nomination paper I submitted as an independent candidate for Dhaka-9 has not been accepted at this stage. However, we will appeal. I have already started the appeal process,” Jara told journalists at the Divisional Commissioner’s office in the capital's Segunbagicha.
Explaining the grounds for the cancellation, Jara said her nomination was rejected due to discrepancies involving the voter information of two signatories among the required one percent of voters’ signatures for independent candidates.
“One voter lives in Khilgaon. Since Khilgaon falls under both Dhaka-9 and Dhaka-11, he was unaware that he was not a voter of Dhaka-9, and there was no way for him to know. He checked the website but could not find his voter number. Based on his NID, he believed he was a Dhaka-9 voter and signed accordingly,” she said.
In the second case, she said, the address mentioned on the voter’s NID hard copy indicated Dhaka-9, leading the person to believe he was a voter of the constituency. “However, according to Election Commission records, he is not a Dhaka-9 voter, which again was beyond his knowledge,” she said.
Describing the cancellation as a challenge in her electoral journey, Jara said she is prepared to face it through the legal process.
Jara recently stepped down from the National Citizen Party (NCP) as its senior joint member secretary and announced that she will contest the upcoming national elections from the Dhaka-9 constituency as an independent candidate.
Her sudden announcement follows a discord within the NCP over allying with Jamaat-e-Islami.
With inputs from UNB
