No Mirza Shamaruh, Mirza Faisal collects nomination form

Three people, including Mirza Faisal Amin, younger brother of President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, have collected Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) nomination forms to contest as the party’s candidate in the by-election for the Thakurgaon-1 constituency. The other two are Obaidullah Masud and Sultanul Ferdous Chowdhury (Nomro).

The interested candidates collected their nomination forms from the BNP central office in Naya Paltan, Dhaka, on Tuesday. They must complete and submit the forms on Wednesday, 16 September. The final candidate will then be announced at a meeting of the BNP’s National Standing Committee (Nomination Board) on the evening of 18 September.

The seat became vacant after former BNP secretary general and current President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir became president. The Election Commission has announced that the by-election will be held on 29 October.

Of the three people who collected nomination forms, Mirza Faisal Amin is currently president of Thakurgaon district BNP. He previously served as mayor of Thakurgaon municipality. Obaidullah Masud and Sultanul Ferdous Chowdhury are both vice-presidents of the district BNP.

Obaidullah Masud is a former Chhatra Dal leader and also served as vice-president and general secretary of the Thakurgaon Government College students’ union. Sultanul Ferdous previously served as chairman of Thakurgaon Sadar upazila parishad. He was also once general secretary of Thakurgaon district Jatiya Party.

Since Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir became president, there had been speculation over who would succeed him in the Thakurgaon-1 constituency.

Alongside his younger brother Mirza Faisal Amin, the name of Mirza Shamaruh, Mirza Fakhrul Islam’s elder daughter, had also been discussed locally. However, the Mirza family had made no statement on the matter. Mirza Shamaruh did not collect a party nomination form.