Despite protests and violent movements by the BNP and like-minded political parties against the January 7 parliamentary election, on average, nine candidates submitted nomination forms for each constituency on Thursday, the last day of the submission to participate.
A total of 30 out of 44 registered political parties submitted their nomination forms to contest the election.
Information gathered from several sources shows that most of the MP aspirants are from the ruling Awami League, the opposition Jatiya Party (JaPa-Ershad), the newly-formed Trinamool BNP, the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM), and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSoD-Inu).
According to the official data of the Election Commission, a total of 2,741 nomination papers were submitted against 300 constituencies across the country. Of them, the EC received the highest, 40, nomination forms for the Feni-3 constituency.
Of the aspirants, the most, 298 candidates, are from the Awami League, 289 from JaPa, 230 from Trinamool BNP, 90 from JaSoD, and 82 from the BNM.
Centring the election, there have been a lot of discussions in the political arena that many BNP leaders and former MPs may join the election from Trinamool BNP, BNM and other parties.
Trinamool BNP has five former BNP lawmakers—MM Shahin for Moulvibazar-2, MA Awal for Lakshmipur-1, HM Golam Reza for Satkhira-4, Nuruddin Ahmed for Jhenaidah-2, and Abdul Gani for Meherpur-2 constituencies.
Party Chairman and former BNP vice chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury submitted his nominated forms for the Sylhet-6 (Beanibazar-Golapganj) seat, while General Secretary Taimur Alam submitted for Narayanganj-1 (Rupganj).
Other leaders of the BNP participating in the polls under the banner of the Trinamool BNP include Yunus Shohag from Barguna-1. He was the former president of the Barguna Municipality unit and joint secretary of the district unit.
Shahjahan Omar, a former vice chairman of the BNP, received the Awami League nomination for the election on the last day of the nomination submission on Thursday. The BNP expelled him from the party within hours.
Expelled BNP leader and senior journalist Shaukat Mahmud will contest the election from the Comilla-5 (Burichong-Brahmanpara) constituency as an independent candidate.
He was convener of Brahmanpara Upazila BNP from 2012-2016. After that, he was the adviser to the BNP chairperson and, lastly, the vice chairman of the BNP. Earlier this year, he was seen organizing events under the banner of the National Committee for Civil Rights, or Jatiya Insaf Kayem Committee, together with poet and self-proclaimed idealist Farhad Mazhar.
On the other hand, Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiqui is a candidate from Trinamool BNP in the Gazipur-1 seat. His father, Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddiqui, was the founder treasurer of the BNP.
BNP Central Committee member and prominent businessman Mohammad Shokrana is participating in the election. He is known as a close acquaintance of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman. A former adviser of the Bogra District BNP, Shokrana, will contest the polls as an independent candidate.
Apart from the BNP leaders, there are leaders from other parties who are joining the election under the banner of the Trinamool BNP. Among them, Maulana Ashraful Ali Madani, the former secretary general of Islami Oikya Jote, is contesting from Sunamganj-1. He was elected from the same seat in 2008 and 2018. He joined Trinamool BNP recently.
Former MP Dewan Shamsul Abedin will participate in the election from BNM in Sunamganj-4 constituency (Sadar and Biswambharpur). He is the great-grandson of Zamindar and mystic devotee Hasan Raja.
Shamsul Abedin was the president of the district BNP. In the 1979 elections, he won the Sunamganj-3 (Jagannathpur and South Sunamganj) seat with the paddy sheaf symbol. He was expelled from the BNP in 1996.
In 2001, he was defeated in the Sunamganj-4 constituency with the boat symbol. In 2008, he ran for the same seat as an independent candidate.
Former BNP lawmaker Abdul Ghani is contesting the polls from the Trinamool BNP in Meherpur-2 constituency. He left the BNP in 2007 and joined Colonel (Retd) Oli Ahmed's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and became a presidium member. Earlier, Abdul Gani was elected MP from the BNP in 1991, 1996, and 2001.
Ali Asif Shawon, Nawaz Farhin Antara, Mamun Abdullah, and Shamima Rita contributed to this story.