While incidents of violence against minorities continue to surface in Bangladesh, the exclusion of a prominent Hindu figure from the electoral fray has become a topic of political debate. The Bangladesh Election Commission has rejected the nomination of Gobind Chandra Pramanik, general secretary of the Jatiya Hindu Mahajot and a senior lawyer.
Gobind Chandra Pramanik filed his nomination papers on December 28th as an independent candidate for the Gopalganj-3 parliamentary seat for the upcoming general elections. This is the same seat from which former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has contested and is considered her traditional seat. Pramanik was seen as a strong face from the Hindu community in the general elections to be held on February 12th.
However, the Election Commission rejected his nomination. According to Election Commission rules, any independent candidate must submit signatures from 1 percent of the total electorate in their constituency along with their nomination. Pramanik says he submitted all these signatures on time, but at the last moment the Returning Officer declared them invalid.
Gobind Chandra Pramanik alleged that the people who signed the nomination at the behest of the BNP retracted their nominations, leading to the Election Commission cancelling their nominations. He said he would appeal the Election Commission’s decision and, if necessary, approach the court.
Senior Bangladeshi journalist Salahuddin Shoaib Chowdhury claimed that the country’s institutions are working to ensure the BNP’s victory in the elections. According to him, the Election Commission is working to ensure that no independent, ethnic party, or Jamaat-e-Islami candidate wins, thus ensuring that BNP candidates face no challenge.
Pramanik has long been a prominent figure of Hindu organizations, although he also courted controversy for his support for Dr. Yunus, the head of the interim government after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. Minority voters play a decisive role in many seats in Bangladesh, and the cancellation of a prominent Hindu candidate raises serious questions about electoral fairness.
