Shawdesh desk :

Nomination aspirants and their supporters on Sunday gathered at the ruling Awami League’s central office at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka for collecting and submitting forms.

Several hundred ruling party nomination aspirants and their thousands of supporters created immense traffic congestion at Gulistan and in its adjacent areas.

AL office secretary Biplab Barua told reporters that they had sold 605 forms from the party office between 10:00am and 1:00pm.

‘Over four thousand nomination aspirants collected forms in 2018. We will include professionals from other sectors alongside the party leaders like the previous years,’ he added.

AL sold 1074 forms on the first day of its four-day nomination collection and submission activities.

The AL starts its election process at a time when most of the opposition political parties, including the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, are demanding cancellation of the January 7 election schedule, resignation of the government and holding of the general elections under a non-party administration.

Meanwhile, most of the top leaders of the BNP are either in jail or on the run to avoid arrest amid the countrywide crackdown after October 28 clashes with the police and AL supporters.

While talking to media after collecting nomination, information and broadcasting minister Hasan Mahmud said that anyone could boycott elections but none could foil it.

‘BNP-Jamaat is trying to foil the election,’ he said.

The AL has asked its nomination seekers to collect forms between November 18 and November 21 from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the party’s central office at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka city.