Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday released the names of 36 more candidates for the upcoming 13th parliamentary election at a press conference held at the BNP Chairperson’s office in Dhaka’s Gulshan.
Earlier, on December 3, the party unveiled its first list of 237 candidates. The following day, BNP suspended the nomination for the Madaripur-1 constituency.
With the latest announcement, BNP has now declared candidates for 272 constituencies, while the remaining 28 seats are expected to be announced in due course, according to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The newly announced 36 candidates are: Abdus Salam (Thakurgaon-2), AKM Kamruzzaman (Dinajpur-5), Zahidul Islam Dholu (Naogaon-5), Md Anwarul Islam (Natore-3), Selim Reza (Sirajganj-1), M Iqbal Hossain (Jessore-5), Monirul Islam (Narail-2), Amir Ejaz Khan (Khulna-1), Shahidul Alam Talukder (Patuakhali-2), Zainul Abedin (Barisal-3), Rafiqul Islam Jamal (Jhalakathi-1), Sultan Salahuddin Tuku (Tangail-5), Abu Wahab Akhand Walid (Mymensingh-4), Mohammad Mazharul Islam (Kishoreganj-1), Sheikh Mojibur Rahman Iqbal (Kishoreganj-5), SA Jinnah Kabir (Manikganj-1), Md Kamruzzaman (Munshiganj-3), Hamidur Rahman (Dhaka-7), Habibur Rashid (Dhaka-9), Sheikh Robiul Alam (Dhaka-10), SM Jahangir Hossain (Dhaka-18), Md Mojibur Rahman (Gazipur-1), Md Harun-or-Rashid (Rajbari-2), Khandaker Nasirul Islam (Faridpur-1), Nadira Akhtar (Madaripur-1), Jahandar Ali Khan (Madaripur-2), Nasir Hossain Chowdhury (Sunamganj-2), Nurul Islam (Sunamganj-4), Ariful Haque Chowdhury (Sylhet-4), Reza Kibria (Habiganj-1), Selim Bhuiyan (Comilla-2), Mostafa Kamal Pasha (Chittagong-3), Gias Uddin Quader Chowdhury (Chittagong-6), Md Abu Sufian (Chittagong-9), Najmul Mostafa Amin (Chittagong-15), and Almogir Mahfuzullah Farid (Cox’s Bazar-2).
Commenting on the announcement, BNP Secretary General said: “We are revealing 36 new names today, and around 28 seats are still pending. Some are reserved for our alliance partners, while a few require further decision-making. The rest will be announced at the appropriate time.”
Although BNP previously adopted a policy of nominating only one candidate per family, an exception has been made in this phase. Former Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu, nominated in the first phase for Tangail-2 (Bhuapur-Gopalpur), has a younger brother, Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, who has now been nominated for Tangail-5 (Sadar). Tuku is a former president of Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal and currently serves as BNP’s publicity secretary.