As Bangladesh prepares for its 13th Parliamentary elections in February, it has been revealed that 13 out of the 17 candidates put forth by the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami in Dhaka’s 20 constituencies are millionaires. The election affidavits show that the combined assets of these Jamaat candidates amount to at least Tk 10 million or more.
The top candidate in terms of assets is Md Enayat Ullah, the party’s nominee in the Dhaka-7 constituency, with total assets estimated at around Tk 1.16 billion. Meanwhile, Jamaat’s leader Shafiqur Rahman, contesting from Dhaka-15, has declared assets worth approximately Tk 15 million.
Among the millionaire candidates are Mohammad Nazrul Islam in Dhaka-1 and Md Abdul Haque in Dhaka-2, although the latter’s nomination was canceled during scrutiny but is subject to appeal. Notably, four of Jamaat’s Dhaka candidates have assets below Tk 10 million.
Enayat Ullah also boasts the highest annual income among Jamaat candidates, earning Tk 68,635,000 annually, followed by SM Khaliduzzaman with an annual income of approximately Tk 36,400,000. The affidavits further detail the annual incomes of other Jamaat candidates, ranging from Tk 1.1 million to Tk 3.8 million.
Reports indicate that for the upcoming parliamentary election, Jamaat has relinquished three of the 20 seats in Dhaka district and the city area as part of an electoral seat-sharing arrangement with alliance partners. These seats have been allocated to the National Citizen Party (NCP) and the Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis.
As the Bangladesh elections approach on February 12, political tensions are on the rise, particularly within the NCP, over its decision to align with Jamaat for the polls.
