Menon files petition against Mirza Abbas' candidacy in Dhaka-8

Rashed Khan Menon, a candidate of the ruling Awami League-led grand alliance, yesterday filed a petition with the Election Commission (EC) challenging the candidacy of Jatiya Oikyafront's Mirza Abbas.

Lawyer Ziad al Malum, on behalf of Menon, submitted the petition before the appellate authority of EC in the afternoon against validity of Abbas' nomination paper filed for Dhaka-8 constituency.

During Sunday's scrutiny, the returning officer declared the nomination paper of BNP's standing committee member Mirza Abbas valid for the constituency.

In Dhaka-8, Social Welfare Minister Rashed Khan Menon is also a valid contestant of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, a component of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance.

After submission of the petition, Ziad told reporters that Mirza Abbas concealed that his wife Afroza Abbas is a loan defaulter.

Both Mirza Abbas and his wife Afroza, who submitted nomination paper for Dhaka-9, provided misleading information in their affidavits filed with the Election Commission, he said.

The BNP leader mentioned in his affidavit that he has liabilities of more than Tk 70 lakh to his wife, while Afroza said she has liabilities of Tk one crore to her husband.

In Dhaka-8, a total of 22 aspirants submitted nomination papers to contest the national election, of which the returning officer rejected seven.

The EC will dispose of all the petitions submitted against decisions of the returning officers over rejection and acceptance of nomination papers, from December 6 to 8.

During Sunday's scrutiny, the returning officers accepted 2,279 nomination papers and rejected 786 submitted in the country's 300 constituencies to contest the 11th national election slated for December 30.