A total of 1,889 aspirants have submitted their nomination papers to contest the first phase of upazila elections slated for May 8.
The Election Commission (EC) set April 15 as the last day for submission of nomination papers.
Some 1,889 aspirants have filed their nomination papers to contest the first phase of elections to 150 upazilas, EC sources said.
As per the schedule, elections to 152 upazilas will be held in the first phase. There are 492 upazilas in the country.
Election Commission additional secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told reporters that nominations were submitted online.
“A total of 695 aspirants submitted nominations for the post of chairman, 724 for vice chairman and 470 for vice chairman reserved for women,” he said.
He said that the EC made it mandatory for all the aspirants of upazila elections to submit nomination papers online.
As per the schedule, scrutiny will be held on April 17 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 22.
Of the 150 upazilas, elections to 22 upazilas under 9 districts will be held through electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The districts include Cox’s Bazar, Shariatpur, Chandpur, Jamalpur, Pabna, Jashore, Pirojpur, and Manikganj. Polling for the rest of the 130 upazilas will be held on ballot papers.
Ruling Awami League has already announced that it will not allocate the Boat symbol to any candidate in the upazila parishad polls.
Under the circumstances, the aspirants of the ruling camp have to contest the polls as independent candidates.
The EC has already made the path clear by relaxing a provision of the Upazila Parishad Election Rules and Election Conduct Rules.
The EC omitted a provision of submission of a list with signatures of 250 voters as supporters to vie
for the race as independent candidate.
In the past, there was a provision to cancel the security deposit if one-eighth of the votes were not obtained. Now it has been reduced to one-fifteenth.
If any candidates fails to beg one-fifteenth votes of the total casting, the security deposit will be lost.
The EC also fixed Tk 1 lakh as security deposit for the aspirants of the upazila parishad chairman and Tk 75,000 for the vice chairman.
A new provision has also been added so that the aspirants may run campaign through digitally and social sites.
As per the new rules, the candidates may use colourful posters and banners.