53 more get back candidacy on 4th day of hearing in EC

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday accepted 53 more appeals on the fourth day of hearings against Returning Officers' (RO) decisions on nomination papers for the 13th national election, restoring the candidacy of those applicants. EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that a total of 70 appeals were heard on the day, of which 53 were accepted while 17 were rejected. 

With this, the total number of candidates who have regained their candidacy after four days of appeal hearings has risen to 203, according to EC officials.

The appeal hearings were held at the auditorium (basement-2) of the Nirbachan Bhaban at Agargaon, Dhaka, started at 10:00 am and continued until 4:00 pm with a one-hour afternoon break. 

The full commission, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin presided over the session. Appeals numbering 211 to 280 were heard yesterday. 

Earlier, the EC accepted 52 appeals on the first day (Saturday), rejecting 15, including one appeal against acceptance of a nomination. On Sunday, 58 appeals were approved, seven rejected, and six kept pending. On Monday, 41 appeals were accepted, 24 rejected, and four kept pending. 

Appeal number 161/2026 was not heard due to the suspension of the election process in the Pabna-2 constituency, while independent candidate Shakila Farzana of Chittagong-5 withdrew her appeal.

EC Director (Public Relations) and Information Officer Md. Ruhul Amin Mallick said the appeal hearings will resume at 10:00 am on Saturday and continue until January 18.

A total of 645 appeals were filed with the Election Commission challenging Returning Officers' decisions on nomination papers. 

On January 4, the final day of scrutiny, Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers across 300 constituencies declared 1,842 nomination papers valid out of 2,568 submissions, while 723 candidatures were declared invalid.