Staff Reporter:
The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday upheld the candidacy of BNP candidate Mohammad Aslam Chowdhury (Chattogram-4) and rejected the nominations of BNP candidate for Chatto-gram-2 Sarwar Alamgir and its Cumilla-10 candidate Abdul Gofur Bhuiyan .
The Election Commission rejected appeals from several banks seeking to cancel Aslam Chow-dhury’s candidacy over alleged loan defaults.
The Commission, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, passed the order in the afternoon, hearing the petitions filed by Trust Bank, Bank Asia and Jamuna Bank.
Aslam Chowdhury was a borrower from Trust Bank, while he was a guarantor over loans taken from two other banks.
Besides, BNP candidate for Chattogram-2 Sarwar Alamgir lost his candidacy following the hearing of an appeal petition by the Election Commission.
The EC rejected the nomination of BNP candidate Sarwar Alamgir on the ground of loan default, accepting an appeal petition filed by his rival Jamaat candidate Nurul Amin in the same constitu-ency.
The Commission heard the petition and passed the order in the afternoon, declaring that Sarwar Alamgir’s nomination was cancelled.
Earlier, the returning officer accepted his nomination declaring him as a valid candidate in the up-coming national election scheduled for February 12 next.
BNP candidate for Cumilla-10 Abdul Gofur Bhuiyan also lost his candidacy following the hearing of an appeal petition by the Election Commission.
The EC rejected the nomination of the BNP candidate on grounds of dual citizenship, accepting an appeal petition filed by Sanskrit Muktijote candidate Kazi Nurse Alam Siddique in the same con-stituency.
The Commission heard the petition and passed the order in the afternoon.
The petitioner alleged that Gofur Bhuiyan is an US citizen and he holds an American passport.
However, Gofur Bhuiyan or anyone on his behalf was not presented during the hearing
Earlier, the returning officer accepted his nomination declaring him as a valid candidate in the up-coming national election scheduled for February 12 next.
The EC as the Electoral Appeal Tribunal on January 10 started hearing and disposal of the appeal petitions filed by aggrieved persons against the decisions of the returning officers over the ac-ceptance and the cancellation of nomination papers.
The Commission was due to settle all the 645 appeals by Sunday.
