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Online Desk  :    The nomination paper of Dr Tasnim Jara, an independent candidate in the Dhaka-9 constituency, has been cancelled ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election. The decision was announced on Saturday by the returning officer and Dhaka District Commissioner, Rezaul Karim, during the scrutiny of nomination papers. Reacting to the decision, Dr Jara said she would file an appeal with the Election Commission seeking reinstatement of her candidature. According to the election schedule, candidates whose nominations have been rejected are entitled to appeal within the stipulated timeframe, with the Commission set to hear and dispose of appeals before publishing the final list of candidates.

Explaining the reason cited for the rejection, Tasnim said independent candidates are required under election rules to submit signatures of at least 1% of voters in the constituency. “We submitted more than the required number of signatures, around 200 extra,” she added. According to her, the authorities selected 10 individuals from the submitted list for verification. Of them, eight were found to have provided correct information. In the remaining two cases, the individuals were located and their identities verified, but they were found not to be voters of Dhaka-9, Tasnim said.

“We have already started the appeal process,” she told journalists at the divisional commissioner’s office in Segunbagicha of the capital. She said both individuals were unaware that they were not registered voters of Dhaka-9. One of them resides in Khilgaon – an area that falls under both Dhaka-9 and Dhaka-11 – who believed they were a Dhaka-9 voter, Tasnim told the media. She added that they later checked the website but could not find their voter number, noting that they had signed as a Dhaka-9 voter based on their national ID and understanding.

In the other case, Tasnim said, the individual’s hard copy of the NID showed an address indicating Dhaka-9, but Election Commission records showed otherwise. There was no way for them to know that they were not a Dhaka-9 voter, she added. Tasnim Jara said these things in a Facebook video on Saturday afternoon. Tasnim Jara was the senior joint member secretary of the NCP. She resigned from the party over the NCP’s electoral alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami and like-minded parties in the national parliamentary election.

Afterwards, she submitted her nomination papers to contest the election as an independent candidate from the Dhaka-9 constituency. According to the information disclosed in her affidavit, Tasnim Jara owns assets worth about Tk 19 lakh. Her annual income is Tk 7,13,597, while her total assets amount to Tk 19,13,509. She paid Tk 34,057 in income tax. The affidavit states that she has no criminal cases, loans, liabilities, or outstanding government dues.

She does not own any house, flat, agricultural, or non-agricultural land. She has jewelry worth Tk 2.5 lakh. Her bank balance in her own name is Tk 10,019, while she holds Tk 16 lakh in cash and 2,270 British pounds. Her husband, Khaleda Saifullah, holds Tk 15 lakh in cash and 6,000 British pounds. Tasnim Jara’s annual income from her job is Tk 7,13,333. Her bank deposits amount to Tk 264. Her overseas income is 3,200 pounds, while her husband’s overseas income is 39,800 pounds. Jara is a medical doctor by profession. She is a resident of Chowdhurypara in Khilgaon, the capital.

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