13th National Poll: Dhaka-11JaPa writ claims Nahid ‘Dominican citizen’, challenges candidacy

A Jatiya Party (JaPa) election candidate on Monday filed a writ petition with the High Court (HC), challenging the eligibility of his rival candidate NCP Convener Nahid Islam in the Dhaka-11 constituency.

Nahid is a citizen of Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation and thus cannot contest the general elections slated to be held on 12 February, said JaPa candidate Shamim Ahmed in the writ petition.

It holds the Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission secretary, the concerned returning officer, and Nahid Islam as respondents.

The petition states that Nahid Islam took Dominican citizenship while he was an advisor to the government on April 20, 2025. He has concealed the information in his election affidavit.

The petition may be heard by a bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Md. Asif Hasan.

Dhaka-11 constituency consists of wards 21, 22, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 of Dhaka North City Corporation in Gulshan area and 23 of Sabujbagh area.

There are a total of 4 lakh 39 thousand 78 voters in this constituency. There are 2 lakh 22 thousand 877 male voters. There are 2 lakh 16 thousand 198 female voters. There are 3 voters of the third gender.

The candidates for this seat are BNP's MA Qayyum, NCP's Md. Nahid Islam, Bangladesh Cultural Liberation Front's Kazi Md. Shahidullah, Gano Forum's Md. Abdul Quader, Ganodhikar Parishad's Md. Arifur Rahman, Bangladesh Republican Party's Md. Zakir Hossain, National People's Party's Md. Mizanur Rahman, Jatiya Party's Shamim Ahmed, Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Sheikh Md. Fazle Bari Masud and independent candidate Kohinoor Akhter Bithi.