<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The nomination paper of Gazipur City Corporation’s (GCC) former mayor Jahangir Alam was cancelled today in primary scrutinization, as he is a “loan defaulter”.&nbsp;</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, the nomination of his mother Zaida Khatun was declared valid at the same time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Faridul Islam, returning officer of the GCC election, announced the cancellation of nomination papers of three candidates, including Jahangir Alam, during scrutinizing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, nomination papers of nine out of the 12 mayoral candidates, including Awami League-backed Advocate Azmat Ullah Khan, were declared valid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The former Gazipur mayor was the guarantor of an industrial organization. Jahangir was declared a loan defaulter along with the organization, the returning officer said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Though the former mayor and his counsel submitted documents demonstrating paying off the loan along with the nomination paper, the returning officer cancelled his nomination during the scrutinization.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Terming the role of election officers “biased”, Jahangir said he will move the court to get justice in this regard.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, the candidates whose nominations were declared valid termed the process “just and fair”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the mayoral candidates whose nominations were declared valid are Jatiya Party's MM Niaz Uddin; independent candidates Abdullah Al Mamun Mandal, Sarkar Shahnur Islam and Md. Harun-or-Rashid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The deadline for the submission of nomination papers was April 27, while the date for the scrutinization of nomination papers was today, and the last date for withdrawal of candidature has been set on May 8.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Information from the Office of Returning Officer shows 13 candidates withdrew their nomination papers. Meanwhile, 290 submitted nominations for the post of general councillors and 82 for the post of reserved women councillors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the district election office, the total number of registered voters in the 57-ward Gazipur City Corporation is 11,843,363. The voters will choose their next mayor through electronic voting machines (EVMs) on May 25. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>