The nomination of Tasnim Jara, an independent candidate for the Dhaka‑9 constituency, has been cancelled.
Tasnim, also a former leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP), announced on Saturday morning that she will appeal against the decision.
Speaking to journalists after learning of the development, she said, “The nomination paper has not been accepted for now. But we will appeal. We have already begun that process.”
Explaining the reasons behind the cancellation, she said that according to the rules, an independent candidate must collect signatures from one percent of the voters. We submitted more signatures than required. The Election Commission found the information of eight out of 10 voters correct, while the remaining two were identified as voters from other constituencies.
“One of the two had no way of knowing that he was not a voter of the Dhaka‑9 constituency. Another, whose case was marked as an exception, had a hard copy of his NID showing an address that indicated he was a Dhaka‑9 voter. However, according to the Election Commission’s records, he is not a voter of this constituency,” she further said.
She submitted the nomination paper on December 29 with nearly 5,000 signatures of voters to contest as an independent candidate from Dhaka-9 constituency (Khilgaon, Sabujbagh, and Mudga) in the upcoming national election.
According to the affidavit she submitted to Election Commission, Tasnim has assets worth some Tk19.14 lakh and her annual income is Tk7.14 lakh.
The affidavit shows that she is not a dual citizen. Tasnim mentioned her profession as physician, teacher and entrepreneur, while her spouse Khaled Saifullah is also the same profession. Her cash amount is Tk16 lakh, while her spouse’s cash amount stands at Tk15 lakh. She owned jewellery worth Tk2.50 lakh.
