Two former BNP leaders, Monirul Haque Sakku and Mohammad Nizam Uddin, are gearing up to participate in the Comilla City Corporation by-election.
Sakku, a two-time mayor and joint general secretary of Comilla south district unit BNP, and Nizam, the president of Metropolitan unit Swechasebak Dal, were expelled from the party for participating in the 2022 city elections.
Their representatives collected nomination papers from District Returning Officer Farhad Hossain’s office on Wednesday.
On June 15, 2022, Arfanul Haque, the Awami League-nominated candidate, was elected Mayor of Comilla City Corporation.
He passed away while undergoing treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on December 13 last year due to respiratory complications and lung infections.
The mayor’s post was declared vacant on December 18, and the election process commenced.
Election Commission Secretary Md Jahangir Alam announced the schedule for city elections on January 24.
According to the schedule, the last date for filing nomination papers is February 13, nomination paper screening is on February 15, settlement of appeals is on February 19 and 20, the last date for withdrawal of candidature is February 22, and symbol allotment is on February 23.
The city corporation elections are set for March 9.
In the previous election, Awami League mayoral candidate Arfanul secured 50,310 votes, while Sakku received 49,967 votes, resulting in Sakku’s defeat by a margin of 343 votes. Additionally, Nizam obtained 29,099 votes.
Farhad Hossain said: “In line with the announced schedule, the election process has commenced.”
There are 2,42,000 voters in Comilla City.