A total of 1,896 candidates will run in the January 7 polls amid boycott by major opposition BNP, its allies and some other likeminded parties.

Of them, 1,506 are nominees of 27 registered political parties while the rest are independents, said Election Commission sources said.

Election Commission Secretary Jahangir Alam at a press briefing last night said 347 aspirants pulled out until yesterday, the last day for withdrawals.

EC sources said of the 347 aspirants who withdrew their candidacies, 61 are independents.

Campaigning for the polls will begin today after the allocation of electoral symbols to the candidates by returning officers.

In line with the EC's directive, the government has asked the authorities concerned to take measures so that political programmes cannot take place across the country from today till the polling day except electioneering.

Meanwhile, Awami League Office Secretary Biplob Barua yesterday said his party left six seats for its 14-party alliance partners and 26 for Jatiya Party, the main opposition in parliament.

Speaking to reporters at the EC secretariat, he said AL nominees for those 32 seats have withdrawn their candidature.

He said the ruling party candidates will vie for 263 seats.

Biplob said all JP candidates will run with its electoral symbol "plough". The candidates of the alliance partners will participate in the election with the AL's polls symbol "boat".

He said the AL has shared Bogura-4, Rajshahi-2, Kushtia-2, Barishal-2, Pirojpur-2 and Lakshmipur-4 with its alliance partners -- three of them with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, two with Workers Party of Bangladesh, and one with Jatyia Party (Manju).

Ahead of the 2018 general election, the number of valid candidates stood at 1,841 after some 670 candidates pulled out. A total of 39 political parties, including the AL and the BNP, took part in that election.

In 2014, around 335 candidates withdrew their candidature and the number of valid candidates was 390 in 147 seats. Only 12 political parties contested that parliamentary polls amid boycott by the BNP and several other opposition parties. The election saw 153 MPs getting elected unopposed.

WITHDRAWAL ENDS

A total of 125 aspirants will run in 15 constituencies of the Dhaka metropolitan area this year, said Sabirul Islam, returning officer of Dhaka metropolitan area.

Twenty-seven candidates in these constituencies have withdrawn their nomination papers. Among them are 13 nominees from Zaker Party, seven from the JP, and one each from the AL, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Jatiya Party (Manju), Bangladesh Sangskritik Muktijote and Islami Oikya Jote.

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader (Dhaka-17) and its leaders Kazi Firoze Rashid (Dhaka-6) and Salma Islam (Dhaka-17), and AL's Habib Hasan (Dhaka-18) have withdrawn their candidature.

Five candidates in 16 seats of Chattogram have withdrawn their candidature. Among them are Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal General Secretary Dilip Barua, and Bangladesh Kallyan Party Chairman Syed Muhammad Ibrahim.

A total of 54 nominees of Zaker Party have withdrawn their nomination papers in 82 constituencies of 15 districts, report our district correspondents.

JP Joint Secretary General Salauddin Khoka has withdrawn his candidature from Narayanganj-4. Another JP contender pulled out from a seat in Chandpur and one from another constituency in Rangamati.