Tarique vacates Bogura-6, retains Dhaka-17

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman has given up the Bogura-6 seat, prompting the Election Commission (EC) to publish a notification declaring the constituency vacant.
Tarique won both Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6 in the 13th parliamentary election but has decided to retain the Dhaka-17 seat.
In a notification, the EC said Tarique, elected to the Jatiya Sangsad from Constituency 41 (Bogura-6) and Constituency 190 (Dhaka-17), submitted a signed declaration on Sunday expressing his intention to represent Dhaka-17 in line with Article 71(2)(a) of the Constitution.
Consequently, the Bogura-6 seat has been declared vacant with effect from the same date.
The notification read the seat would be deemed vacant following the declaration and that necessary subsequent measures would be taken.
The order was issued by the EC and signed by Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.
“We have received a letter from BNP chairperson Tarique Rahman stating that he is vacating the Bogura-6 seat,” he said.
According to Article 19(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), a candidate may contest and be elected from more than one constituency in a general election, though no one may contest more than three seats.

Under Article 19(2), if a candidate wins multiple seats, they must inform the EC in writing within 30 days of the gazette publication which seat they wish to retain. If they fail to do so, the EC may retain one seat and declare the others vacant.
In Dhaka-17, Tarique Rahman secured 72,699 votes, while Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Md Khaliduzzaman received 68,300 votes. Tarique won by a margin of 4,399 votes.
In Bogura-6, the BNP chairman received 216,284 votes. His closest rival, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Abidur Rahman Sohel, who contested with the scales symbol, secured 97,626 votes.
Under the RPO, the EC must hold a by-election within 90 days of declaring a seat vacant. Therefore, the EC will have to conduct a by-election in Bogura-6, while voting in Sherpur-3 remains pending after the death of a valid candidate.
The EC held voting in 299 constituencies on February 12. The EC postponed the election in Sherpur-3 and will announce a new schedule. Results for Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 have not yet been published due to legal complications. Out of 297 declared seats, BNP secured 209.
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