Manna announces withdrawal from Dhaka-18 three days before election

Mahmudur Rahman Manna, president of Nagorik Oikko, has announced his withdrawal from the Dhaka-18 constituency. He disclosed the decision in a post on his verified Facebook account at around 12:30 am on Sunday night, just three days before the election.

In the post, Manna wrote that he was currently in Bogura and that contesting in Dhaka-18 was too costly. He decided not to run as he could not manage the required expenses.

Manna is contesting from Bogura-2 (Shibganj) constituency and made the announcement from there.

In his post, he stated, “I am now in Bogura. Under special circumstances, I had decided to contest the parliamentary election from both Dhaka-18 and Bogura-2.”

He added, “Dhaka-18 is a vast constituency, covering about seven and a half police station jurisdictions and roughly 650,000 voters. The election is so expensive that it is not possible for me to bear the cost. In this context, I have decided to withdraw from the Dhaka-18 race. Some people may feel hurt by my decision — I express my regret to them.”

Earlier, Manna’s candidacy in Bogura-2 had been cancelled over allegations of loan default, but he later regained eligibility after appealing to the Election Commission. His nomination in Dhaka-18 had remained valid from the beginning. The Dhaka-18 constituency includes Khilkhet, Kuril, Uttara, Uttar Khan, Dakshin Khan and Turag areas of the capital.

The BNP has its own candidate in Dhaka-18 — SM Jahangir Hossain. Jamaat-e-Islami has fielded Muhammad Ashraful Haque, while Ariful Islam is running for the Jatiya Nagorik Party.

In Bogura-2, the BNP candidate is Mir Shahe Alam, and Jamaat’s candidate is Abul Azad Mohammad Shahaduzzaman. BNP initially announced it would leave the seat for Manna, but later fielded its own candidate.

Mahmudur Rahman Manna — twice elected DUCSU vice-president and once a leader of the Awami League — has contested elections several times in the past but has never been elected to parliament.