Seven of the ten candidates who contested in Madaripur-1 (Shibchar) constituency in 13th parliamentary election have forfeited their security deposits.
According to Election Commission (EC) regulations, a candidate must secure at least one-eighth (12.5 percent) of the total votes cast to avoid the forfeiture of their deposit.
In this constituency, a total of 176,208 votes were cast from a pool of 324,289 valid voters, representing a turnout of 54.92 percent. Despite what the sources describe as a relatively satisfactory voter turnout, seven candidates failed to reach the mandatory threshold.
Sayeed Uddin Ahmad Hanzala, the candidate of 11-party alliance nominated by Islami Majlis under the Rickshaw symbol, was elected Member of Parliament after securing 64,909 votes across 102 polling centres.
His nearest rival, BNP candidate Nadira Akter followed closely with 64,524 votes. Independent candidate Kamal Zaman Molla, running with the Ship symbol, successfully protected his deposit by polling 36,564 votes, which accounts for 20.75 percent of the total votes cast.
The list of candidates who failed to meet the EC requirement and subsequently lost their deposits includes Akram Hossain of Islami Andolan Bangladesh (Hand fan), who received 6,205 votes, and independent candidate Sajjad Hossain Siddiqui (Football), who obtained 3,059 votes.
Rajib Molla of Gono Odhikar Parishad (Truck) secured 3,026 votes, while independent candidate Md Imran Hossain (Deer) received 247 votes. Other candidates failing to reach the threshold were Abdul Ali of Communist Party (Sickle) with 208 votes, Mohammad Zahirul Islam Mintu of Jatiya Party (Plough) with 180 votes, and Md Hafizur Rahman of Labour Party (Pineapple) with 69 votes.
