Several heavyweight leaders left out of BNP nomination list

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has announced the names of candidates for 237 seats in the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election. However, several heavyweight leaders of the party did not make it to the initial list, which has sparked discussions within the party.

It is learned that BNP Joint Secretary General Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel was expected to be given the green signal from the center for Dhaka-12 constituency. But in the end, the party nominated former Jubo Dal president Saiful Alam Nirob for that constituency.

Meanwhile, BNP has also dropped former MP Moazzem Hossain Alal from Barisal-2 constituency. Central executive member and Uzirpur Upazila President Sarfuddin Ahmed Santu has been nominated instead.

The name of the party's senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi is also not on the list. It was thought that he would contest the election from a constituency in Kurigram, but that did not happen either.

Apart from this, party Vice Chairman Dr. Asaduzzaman Ripon, Vice Chairman (post suspended) and former MP Gias Uddin Quader Chowdhury, Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu, International Affairs Secretary Rumin Farhana, Publicity Secretary Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, Chairperson's Advisor Abdus Salam, Dhaka District BNP General Secretary Advocate Nipun Roy Chowdhury, former MP from Bhola-4 constituency Nazim Uddin Alam and Volunteer Affairs Assistant Secretary Abdul Qadir Bhuiyan Jewel have also been left out of the primary list.

The names of the candidates were announced by the party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson's office in Gulshan on Monday (November 3).

The announcement said that BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is contesting from Dinajpur-3, Bogra-7 and Feni-1 constituencies. On the other hand, his son and acting chairman of the party, Tarique Rahman, will contest the election from Bogra-6 constituency.