Nomination of Jamaat-e-Islami candidate for Dhaka-2 constituency Col. (retd.) Abdul Haque cancelled

The nomination of Jamaat-e-Islami candidate and retired military officers' organization RAWA president Col. (retd.) Abdul Haque for Dhaka-2 parliamentary constituency has been cancelled. Dhaka Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Rezaul Karim officially announced this decision after scrutinizing the nomination papers on Saturday. At the same time, the nomination papers of BNP candidate Amanullah Aman and two other candidates for this constituency were declared valid.

Returning Officer Rezaul Karim said at the nomination scrutiny meeting that the Credit Information Bureau (CIB) report mentioned Colonel (retd.) Abdul Haque as a director of a defaulting institution. Since he is listed as a defaulter in the Bangladesh Bank list, he has no legal opportunity to accept his nomination. In this regard, he said that if there were these complications, it was necessary to collect updated information from the CIB in advance. In the current situation, there is no option but to cancel the nomination, but there is an opportunity to appeal.

The returning officer also said that Abdul Haque did not submit a copy of his income tax return with his nomination paper. At the same time, a photocopy of his national identity card and the necessary information of the proposers and supporters were not submitted. He said that it was not possible to accept the nomination paper due to these shortcomings.

Reacting to the cancellation of the nomination, Colonel (Retd.) Abdul Haque said that in 2012 and 2013, he served as a director of an organization. He later resigned due to various inconsistencies in that organization and the resignation letter is preserved with him. He claimed that he is not involved with that organization in any way at present.

He also said that since it is a family organization, someone can take a loan using his name, but he is not personally involved with it. He also said that he will present these issues through an appeal.

It is worth noting that the total number of voters in Dhaka-2 parliamentary constituency is 4 lakh 19 thousand 215 people. A total of three candidates submitted their nomination papers for this constituency. They are BNP party candidate and advisor to the late chairperson Amanullah Aman, Jamaat-e-Islami nominee Col. (retd) Abdul Haque and Islami Andolan Bangladesh nominee Maulana Zahirul Islam. After the scrutiny, the nomination of Col. (retd) Abdul Haque was cancelled, but the nominations of the other two candidates were declared valid.

This decision of the scrutiny of nominations has added a new dimension to the electoral equation of Dhaka-2 constituency. Now, the political circles are eyeing the outcome of the appeal process.