Tasnim Jara, independent candidate for the Dhaka-9 constituency and a leader who recently resigned from NCP, has appealed to the Election Commission (EC) to restore her nomination, which had been cancelled by the returning officer.
She submitted her appeal application at the EC building in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Monday afternoon. Prior to this, the Dhaka district returning officer had cancelled Jara’s nomination paper on 3 January.
The returning officer had cancelled her nomination paper due to discrepancies found in the information of two voters out of the ten voters selected by lot from the list submitted by Tasnim Jara.
To run as an independent candidate, one must submit signatures of support from 1 per cent of voters.
After filing the appeal, Tasnim Jara confirmed the matter, stating, “I submitted my nomination as an independent candidate for the Dhaka-9 seat. It was not accepted. We have appealed that decision.”
She added, “Within a day and a half, five thousand people showed their love and gave me their signatures. They themselves set up booths as volunteers. Respecting this, we will continue the legal battle.”
She said, “Supporters want me to be able to contest in the election. That’s why we have appealed.”
Jara’s lawyer Arman Hossain told journalists, “We have filed the appeal application according to the RPO and the Election Conduct Rules. Legally, we can hope to win in this appeal. We hope that Jara will be able to contest in the Dhaka-9 seat as the people’s candidate.”
He said, “We submitted the list of 1 per cent of voters according to the Election Conduct Rules and relevant laws. It is 100 per cent correct. At the time we collected the voter list, the EC’s website was not working. The person whose signature has been questioned had Dhaka-9 constituency mentioned as his voting area on his voter ID card. Since we had no opportunity to verify that, we are now dealing with the problem.”
According to the EC’s schedule, 29 December was the last date for submission for nomination papers. From 30 December to 4 January, returning officers scrutinised them.
Appeal applications are to be accepted from 5 to 9 January. Appeals will be disposed of between 10 and 18 January. The last date for withdrawal of candidacy is 20 January.
Returning officers are expected publish the final list of candidates and allocate symbols on 21 January, with campaigning slated to begin on 22 January.
Campaigning can be conducted until 7:30am on 10 February and the election will be held on 12 February.
