BNP picks candidates for Dhaka-5, Naogaon-6 by-polls

BNP on Sunday picked Salahuddin Ahmed and Sheikh Mohammad Rezaul Islam as its candidates to contest the Dhaka-5 and Naogaon-6 by-elections respectively billed for 17 October, reports UNB.

A day after BNP’s nomination board or party standing committee took virtual interviews of the party aspirants, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the names of the candidates of “Sheaf of Paddy’ for the two by-polls.

“Our party nominated Salahuddin Ahmed for Dhaka-5 by polls while Sheikh Mohammad Rezaul Islam for Naogaon-6,” Fakhrul told UNB.

BNP chairperson’s media wing member Sayrul Kabir Khan said Salahuddin is the commerce affairs secretary of BNP and a three-time former MP while Rezaul is the party’s Naogaon unit convening committee member.

On Saturday night, he said, BNP’s nomination board took interviews of 28 aspirants for contesting the upcoming by polls to Dhaka-5, Dhaka-18, Naogaon-6 and Sirajganj-1 constituencies.

Of them, 15 aspirants, including six for Dhaka-5 and nine for Naogaon-6, faced the interviews.

The party, however, did not disclose the names of its nominated candidates for Dhaka-18 and Sirajganj-1 by-polls since the election commission did not yet announce the schedule.

As per the schedule announced by the election commission, the by-polls to Dhaka-5 and Naogaon-6 will be held on 17 October next.

The Dhaka-5, Dhaka-18, Naogaon-6 and Sirajganj-1 seats fell vacant following the death of Awami League MPs Habibur Rahman Molla, Sahara Khatun, Israfil Alam and Mohammad Nasim respectively.

On 7 September, Awami League picked Monirul Islam Monu for Dhaka-5 and Mohammad Anawar Hossain Helal for Naogaon-6 as its candidates.

On Saturday, Jatiya Party also nominated its presidium member Mir Abdus Sabur Asud and its Raninagar upazila unit president Kazi Golam Kabir as the candidates of ‘Plough’ in the Dhaka-5 and Naogaon-6 by-elections respectively.