Manna regains candidacy in Bogura-2 seat

Nagorik Oikya president Mahmudur Rahman Manna has regained his candidacy in the Bogura-2 constituency by appealing to the election commission (EC).

The EC allowed his appeal at around noon on Sunday, thereby declaring his nomination paper valid.

Following the hearing, Manna’s lawyer, Syed Mamun Mahbub, confirmed the matter to newspersons.

Earlier, the returning officer concerned had rejected Mahmudur Rahman Manna’s nomination paper during scrutiny for the Bogura-2 (Shibganj) seat.

Challenging that decision, Manna subsequently lodged an appeal with the election commission.

Speaking to journalists at the Nirbachan Bhaban afterwards, Mahmudur Rahman Manna said that he had contested elections from Bogura before as well.

He remarked that the ‘mobocracy’ unleashed in opposition to his candidature carried a very ominous signal. In his view, the deputy commissioner, feeling unsettled, thought it better to refer the matter to the EC in order to manage the situation; otherwise, there had been no grounds whatsoever for cancelling his nomination.

He also commented that the EC had demonstrated its competence.

A two-time vice-president (VP) of DUCSU (Dhaka University Central Students’ Union) and a former Awami League leader, Mahmudur Rahman Manna has contested several times in the past but has never entered parliament.

This time, he has received the support of the BNP. As a leader of an allied party, the Bogura-2 seat was allocated to him.

For the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) election scheduled to be held on 12 February, Mahmudur Rahman Manna submitted nomination papers for both the Bogura-2 constituency and the Dhaka-18 constituency. His nomination paper for Dhaka-18 has also been declared valid.