Thakurgaon-1 by-election set for October 29

The by-election to the Thakurgaon-1 parliamentary constituency, left vacant after Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir assumed office as president, will be held on October 29.

Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed announced the schedule at the Election Commission building on Thursday.

Under the schedule, candidates must submit their nomination papers by September 27. The nominations will be scrutinised on September 29, while appeals against the scrutiny decisions can be filed from September 30 to October 4.

The appeals will be disposed of on October 6, followed by the withdrawal of candidacies on October 7 and allocation of election symbols on October 8.

Voting will take place on October 29 from 8am to 4pm without a break.

The constituency had 507,203 registered voters during the 13th parliamentary election. The number has since risen to 515,525, with 8,322 new voters added.

The Thakurgaon district election officer will serve as the returning officer, while the additional district election officer and the upazila election officers of Ruhia and Bhulli will serve as assistant returning officers, according to the Election Commission.

The by-election will also offer out-of-country voting for expatriate voters. In the previous election, 386 voters from the constituency registered to vote from 33 countries, with Saudi Arabia accounting for the highest number.

A total of 4,045 voters also registered for in-country postal voting, including 2,735 government employees.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was elected from Thakurgaon-1 in the 13th parliamentary election. He was later elected as the country’s 23rd president by members of parliament on August 20 and took oath at Bangabhaban’s Durbar Hall the following day.

Under Article 50(4) of the Constitution, the Parliament Secretariat declared the seat vacant from August 21, the day Fakhrul assumed the presidency.