BNP to announce candidate for Thakurgaon-1 by-polls on 18 Sept: Rizvi

BNP would announce its candidate for the by-polls to the Thakurgaon-1 constituency on next Friday, 18 September, said the party’s Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday.

Rizvi revealed the party’s decision in this regard following a standing committee meeting held at the Gulshan office in the capital.

Interested contenders can collect BNP’s nomination forms from the party’s central office in Naya Paltan on Tuesday, and will have to submit the nomination papers the next day, Rizvi told reporters.

Afterwards, the BNP nomination board will review the nomination forms and announce the final contender on 18 September, Rizvi added.

By-elections to the Thakurgaon-1 parliamentary seat, which turned vacant after Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir assumed the role of president, will be held on 29 September.

During the standing committee meeting on Saturday, BNP leaders also decided to fill the vacant posts within the party and affiliated organisations, Rizvi said.

At the meeting, chaired by Party Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the standing committee members also decided to roll-out a party-led large-scale mass awareness campaign aimed at weakening the ongoing dengue outbreak.

Publicity materials will be developed incorporating recommendations and advices from doctors and other concerned professionals on dengue prevention. These materials will be distributed in the capital and other parts of the country, Rizvi told reporters.

Online campaigns will also be conducted, Rizvi stressed.

Precautionary measures will be highlighted in virtual campaigns on TV channels, media outlets and social media platforms, Rizvi told reporters.

The meeting also discussed setting up dustbins at schools, madrasas and kitchen markets across the country to curb littering and stagnant water accumulation, Rizvi said.