A festive atmosphere prevails across the entire district centering around the highly anticipated biennial election of Nilphamari Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the apex organization of businessmen. Surrounding the election scheduled for next Saturday, August 22, the electioneering and campaigning by candidates and their supporters have reached their peak. Candidates are going from door to door to voters day and night, seeking votes with various promises, including the development of trade and commerce.
Meanwhile, against four posts in the Trade Group, only two candidates—Md. Abdul Wahed Sarkar and Md. Abdul Momin—submitted their nomination papers, leading to their un-contested unofficial election. As a result, the main battle now centers around the General Group, Associate Group, and top leadership positions.
According to election office sources, a total of 42 nomination forms were sold against 24 posts in this year's election. However, on the final day of nomination submission, 36 final nomination papers were accepted. Altogether, 684 voters will exercise their valuable voting rights to determine the roadmap for business leadership for the next two years.
Three heavyweight candidates have entered the race for the single post of 'President', the most crucial position in the organization. The candidates who submitted nominations are Md. Sohel Parvez, Mahbub-ur-Rahman, and Muhammad Sultan. On the other hand, although three people purchased nomination papers for the Senior Vice President post, two candidates remain in the contest till the end. They are Md. Abu Saleh (Sohel Rana) and Raj Kumar Poddar. Similarly, four candidates collected nomination papers for the Vice President post, but ultimately three submitted them—Md. Farhanul Haq, Akhtar Hossain Swapan, and Md. Bakhtiar Rahman.
For 12 posts in the General Group, 21 people bought nomination papers, but 18 candidates are competing on the field in the end. The candidates for these posts are Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, Golam Mostafa Ranju, Rezwan Ahmed, Mahbubur Rahman, Ashraful Islam, Abdur Razzak Rinku, Md. Hasanuzzaman, Sushanta Kumar, Anwar Pramanik, Muktar Hossain, Moshgul Islam, Asaduzzaman Shaheen, Shahin Alam, Tapas Kumar Saha, Tariqul Alam, Shakil Ahmed, Narayan Chandra Roy, and Aqibur Rahman.
On the other hand, 9 people collected nomination forms against 5 posts in the Associate Group, but 8 candidates are contesting the election. They are Akhtar Siddiqui, Tofael Mohammad Azam, Arifuzzaman, Motiar Rahman, Mobassher Alam Prince, Mohammad Momtaz, Azizul Islam, and Abul Kalam Mintu.
Regarding overall election preparations and security measures, Advocate Abu Mohammad Soyem, Chairman of the Election Board of Nilphamari Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that all preparations have been made by the Election Board to conduct a fair, free, and neutral election. All necessary steps have already been completed to maintain law and order and ensure the spontaneous participation of voters. Voting will continue non-stop from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM next Saturday, August 22. The Election Board remains fully vigilant to ensure that voters can exercise their franchise in a hassle-free and joyous environment.
