Most of the candidates contesting the 13th parliamentary election under the BNP’s paddy sheaf symbol are highly educated. By profession, most candidates have identified themselves as businesspeople. More than half of the candidates are over 60 years of age. A total of 215 candidates possess movable and immovable assets worth more than Tk 10 million.
These details have emerged from an analysis of affidavits submitted to returning officers to contest the parliamentary election. Since the 9th parliamentary election in 2008, submission of affidavits by candidates has been mandatory. In this year’s affidavits, candidates were required to provide 10 categories of information, including age, educational qualifications, profession, case-related information, income, and assets.
For the 13th parliamentary election, candidates under the paddy sheaf symbol have been confirmed in 287 constituencies. Prothom Alo reporters and correspondents across the country obtained these names by speaking with returning officers. Among them are six BNP alliance partners who left their own parties to contest as paddy sheaf candidates. BNP has no candidates in eight constituencies reserved for leaders of allied parties. Election schedules have been rescheduled in two constituencies. In two constituencies, nomination papers of two BNP candidates were cancelled. In one constituency, the BNP candidate could not be confirmed.
As of Wednesday night, BNP had not provided any final list. Meanwhile, as of the time of writing this report on Wednesday night, the Election Commission had not published the final list of candidates.
229 highly educated candidates
Among the 287 BNP candidates contesting under the paddy sheaf symbol, 229 are highly educated—that is, they hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees or equivalent, or PhD degrees. Among them, eight candidates hold PhD degrees.
Among the paddy sheaf candidates, 18 have passed SSC, 21 have passed HSC, and three have educational qualifications below the secondary level. Eleven candidates mentioned in their affidavits that they are self-educated and literate. Five candidates either provided unclear information about their educational qualifications or did not mention it.
The eight BNP candidates holding PhD degrees are: Muhammad Osman Faruq from Kishoreganj-3, Abdul Moyeen Khan from Narsingdi-2, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain from Cumilla-1, Reza Kibria from Habiganj-1, ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon from Chandpur-1, MA Muhit from Sirajganj-6, MA Qayyum from Dhaka-11, and SM Rafiqul Islam from Gazipur-3.
The two BNP candidates who identified themselves as ‘literate’ are SA Jinnah Kabir from Manikganj-1 and Md Mokarram Hossain Sujon from Rangpur-1.
Oldest candidate Akbar Ali
An age-based analysis of the paddy sheaf candidates in this election shows that out of 287 candidates, 248 are over 50 years old. BNP did not nominate any candidate aged between 18 and 30. Only six candidates are aged between 31 and 40. There are 32 candidates aged between 41 and 50, 99 aged between 51 and 60, 95 aged between 61 and 70, and 54 aged over 70. Information for one candidate was not available.
Analysis of affidavit data shows that the oldest BNP candidate is Akbar Ali from Sirajganj-4 constituency. He is 86 years old. He was previously elected as a BNP member of parliament in 1991 and 2001.
The youngest among the paddy sheaf candidates is Rashed Khan, who is contesting from Jhenaidah-4. Although nominated by BNP, he had been involved in the politics of Gono Odhikar Parishad and served as the party’s general secretary.
Before submitting his nomination papers for this election, he joined BNP and became a Sheaf of Paddy candidate. It may be noted that the Representation of the People Order for this election stipulates that allied parties must contest under their own symbols. To contest under the symbol of another alliance party, a candidate must leave their own party.
The youngest actively involved BNP candidate in party politics is physician Sunsila Jabrin Priyanka,who will contest from Sherpur-1. She is the daughter of former Sherpur district BNP convener Md Hojrat Ali.
205 businesspeople
Among the 287 paddy sheaf candidates, 205 (71 per cent) identified business as their profession. It should be noted that some candidates listed multiple professions. For analysis purposes, the first profession mentioned was considered the candidate’s primary profession.
Among the paddy sheaf candidates, 27 identified themselves as lawyers, 17 as farmers, 12 as physicians, seven as politicians, and six as teachers. Thirteen candidates mentioned other professions.
Seven candidates identified politics as their profession in their affidavits. Among them, five listed politics as their sole profession, while two mentioned politics along with business and social work.
BNP chairperson Tarique Rahman listed politics as his profession. He is contesting from two constituencies—Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6. In addition, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain from Cumilla-1, Azizul Bari Helal from Khulna-4, Sardar Sarfuddin Ahmed from Barishal-2, and ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon from Chandpur-1 listed only politics as their profession.
37 earn over Tk 10 million annually
Analysis of affidavits shows that among the paddy sheaf candidates, 37 earn more than Tk 10 million annually. Thirty-nine candidates earn between Tk 5.1 million and Tk 9.9 million.
Thirty-four candidates earn between Tk 3.1 million and Tk 5 million. A total of 141 candidates earn less than Tk 2 million annually. Eight candidates provided unclear income information or did not provide it.
The highest annual income was shown by Zakaria Taher, the BNP candidate from Cumilla-8, who reported an annual income of approximately Tk 591.7 million. A businessperson by profession, a large portion of Zakaria Taher’s income comes from capital gains, amounting to more than Tk 500 million. He also earns income from agriculture, building rent, honoraria from business establishments, and shares.
The lowest income was shown by Md Shajahan, the BNP candidate from Noakhali-4, who reported an annual income of Tk 32,822, derived from shares, savings certificates, and bank deposits. Shajahan identified his profession as business. He owns movable and immovable assets worth Tk 23.9 million.
215 millionaires
Among BNP candidates, 215 possess movable and immovable assets worth more than Tk 10 million. Seven candidates own assets worth more than Tk 1 billion. The candidate showing the highest assets is Mohammad Aslam Chowdhury from Chattogram-4, who reported movable and immovable assets worth approximately Tk 3.81 billion. He also has liabilities amounting to Tk 3.45 billion.
Media reports say that while declaring Aslam Chowdhury’s nomination paper valid, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud cautioned him, saying, “I have declared your nomination paper valid. Please repay the bank money (loan).”
The BNP candidate with the lowest declared assets is Md Abu Sayed Chand from Rajshahi-6. His movable and immovable assets amount to around Tk 1.05 million. His profession is agriculture and business, and his annual income is Tk 630,000. His immovable assets include only one permanent house. His movable assets include Tk 500,000 in cash and some furniture and electronic items.
It is to mention that for analysis purposes, the value of assets at the time of acquisition has been considered. In cases where this was not available, the stated value was used. In some cases, candidates did not mention the value of certain assets, which were excluded. In some cases where asset or income information was unclear, figures were taken from income tax returns.