Seven aspirants collected nomination forms to contest the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayoral by-polls, while five others got forms for the Kishoreganj 1 re-election on Thursday.
The Election Commission has fixed February 28 for the DNCC mayoral by-election and polls to elect councillors for the 36 new wards added to the north and south city corporations.
The Kishoreganj constituency seat fell vacant following the death of MP-elect and former Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam.
Awami League Deputy Office Secretary Biplob Barua said that the sale of nomination forms will continue till January 25.
Former Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Atiqul Islam has collected a nomination form from the ruling Awami League to contest the DNCC mayoral by-election.
Jahangir Hossain, Atiqul’s cousin, also collected a nomination form from the Awami League chief’s Dhanmondi office on Wednesday.
Earlier, Atiqul had bagged Awami League's nomination for the DNCC by-polls in 2018, but the election was postponed by the High Court.
The other nomination seekers for the DNCC mayoral seat are Russell Ashequi, Adam Tamizi Haque, Yad Ali Fakir, Kutub Uddin, Arif Hossain and Shohid Ullah.
Russell Ashequi told the Dhaka Tribune that he is optimistic that the Awami League president, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, will give him the nomination.
The DNCC mayor's post became vacant after the death of then mayor Annisul Huq on November 30, 2017.
The Election Commission’s announcement came six days after the High Court scrapped a stay order on it.
The Commission, last year, had announced that mayoral by-polls for DNCC and the new city corporation wards would be held on February 26.
However, the process faced a roadblock after Ataur Rahman and Jahangir Alam, union council chairmen of Bhatara and Beraid respectively, filed a petition challenging the decision of their unions being added to Dhaka as city corporation wards.
Meanwhile, Syed Ashraful Islam's younger brother, Syed Shafayetul Islam, and four others have collected party nomination forms for Kishoreganj 1 constituency.
Ashraful, who had won the seat in the December 30 general election, died at a hospital in Thailand on January 3, before he could take the oath of office.
Awami League will finalize its candidates for the DNCC mayoral by-election and Kishoreganj 1 re-election on Saturday at a joint meeting of the party's parliamentary and local government selection boards.
