Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna has announced withdrawal of his candidacy from the Dhaka-18 constituency just three days before the election.
He made the announcement on his verified Facebook page at around 12:30am on Sunday (Feb 8).
In the post, Manna wrote that he is currently staying at Bogura and had earlier decided to contest the parliamentary election from both Dhaka-18 and Bogura-2 under special circumstances.
He said Dhaka-18 is a vast constituency, comprising seven and a half thanas with some 6,50,000 voters.
Manna noted that the election is so expensive that it is not possible for him to bear the cost.
"In this context, I have decided to withdraw myself from the electoral race in Dhaka-18. Some people may feel hurt by my decision, and I apologise to them," he wrote.
It may be mentioned that Mahmudur Rahman Manna's candidacy in Dhaka-18 constituency was valid from the very beginning. The constituency, comprises Uttara, Khilkhet, Kuril, Uttar Khan, Dakkhin Khan and Turag areas. BNP candidate SM Jahangir Hossain, Jamaat-e-Islami's Muhammad Ashraful Huque, NCP's Ariful Islam, Islami Andolan candidate Anwar Hossain, among others, are contesting the 13th national election from the Dhaka-18 constituency.
On the other hand, Mahmudur Rahman Manna is still contesting from Bogura-2 (Shibganj) constituency. Though his candidacy was cancelled at the beginning on loan default allegation, he got back his candidacy through an appeal to the Election Commission.
Despite the BNP first announced to support Manna in Bogura-2 constituency, the party later nominated party candidate Mir Shahe Alam there. Jamaat's candidate in this constituency is Abul Azad Mohammad Shahaduzzaman.
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