EC to seek action on Rajshahi ADC for passing flawed candidates

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The Election Commission (EC) will ask the establishment ministry to take disciplinary action against additional divisional commissioner (ADC) of Rajshahi for clearing the way for five disqualified candidates to contest the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) polls.

The EC took the decision following a meeting yesterday, officials said.

The returning officer (RO) had earlier rejected their candidacies for councillorship during scrutiny as they turned out to be loan defaulters and Open Market Sale (OMS) dealers. Electoral laws bar such people from contesting polls.

However, Additional Divisional Commissioner (General) Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, in his capacity as the election appeal authorities for the August 4 polls, declared their candidatures valid on appeal.

They are OMS dealers Farida Yasmin, Merajuddin and Nasiruddin, and loan defaulters Siddiqur Rahman and Shamsunnahar.

The EC meeting found that the RO had been right to reject their applications. Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain said the way the applications were declared valid was unacceptable.

Officials present at the meeting said the commission secretariat would send a letter to the establishment ministry early next week asking to determine whether Akhtaruzzaman cleared the applications on ill motives and take disciplinary action accordingly.

The establishment ministry is the controlling authorities of district and divisional officials.

“We’ll ask his (controlling) authorities to initiate departmental action against him,” Sakhawat said.

“We’ll not tolerate any negligence on the part of any officials engaged in election duties,” he said.

According to electoral laws, the service of an official goes to the EC after given election duty. The commission can then ask the controlling authorities to take departmental actions against them if they fail to perform electoral duties properly.

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