DHAKA, Jan 21 (NNN-BSS) – Around 2,000 candidates are set to contest the polls, for Bangladesh’s 13th general election, to be held next month, according to the Bangladeshi Election Commission.
The commission released the updated figures last night, following the completion of nomination submission, scrutiny, appeals, withdrawals, and the finalisation of the list of contesting candidates.
Following yesterday’s deadline for withdrawals, an official confirmed that 1,967 candidates are now contesting in 298 of the country’s 300 constituencies. The number is anticipated to increase further once candidate lists from the two remaining constituencies are finalised.
The deadline for withdrawals in those constituencies was extended to Jan 26, due to a legal dispute over boundary delimitation.
Some 3,000 nomination papers were collected from 69 returning officers, to contest the polls to be held on Feb 12.
The commission last month said that, more than 127 million voters had been registered for the election, for the first time since former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina resigned, and left the country in Aug, 2024.– NNN-BSS