On September 23, in the draft voter list signed by the BCB Election Commission, the names of voters from 15 controversial clubs out of 76 in Dhaka under Category-2 were missing. According to the Anti-Corruption Commission’s enforcement team report, these 15 clubs had been excluded from the voter list.
Additionally, six districts under Category-1 had empty voter slots because they failed to submit their councillor forms to the BCB following proper procedures within the stipulated time.
However, during a full-day hearing at the Election Commission on September 25, the 15 clubs raised objections and regained their voting rights. The draft had left Narsingdi, Sylhet, Naogaon, Bogura, Pabna, and Sirajganj empty because councillorships had not been submitted by the September 23 deadline. In the final voter list, names appeared for all districts except Narsingdi.
During the hearing, Tamim Iqbal spoke on behalf of the 15 clubs that had been excluded from the draft list. In the press conference he said: “I clearly told them one thing—that look, bigger than these 15 clubs is the fact that whatever decision you are about to make, you have to consider the 300 cricketers. These 15 clubs regularly play cricket in different divisions and pay their players. A large part of the player’s annual income—around 70-80%—comes from this money. Their families are also involved. You must keep this in mind when making a decision. If you had any objections, then why did you provide the councillor form?”
The Election Commission found his arguments reasonable and granted councillorship to all 15 clubs that had been missing from the draft voter list.
BCB’s current director Iftikhar Rahman Mithu breathed a sigh of relief as his name appeared in the final list as the councillor from Vikings Cricket Academy, whose name had been missing in the draft, has now been included. Former BCB director and former director-in-charge of Mohammedan Sporting Club, Lokman Hossain Bhuiya, also secured councillorship on this occasion, representing one of the 15 previously excluded clubs, Nakhalpara Cricketers.
Twelve clubs from Dhaka submitted a written objection regarding the voting rights of Faruque Ahmed, who had submitted the councillor form two and a half hours past the deadline and whose name appeared in the draft voter list, on behalf of Rangers Cricket Academy. However, their objection was not accepted. Since the specific reason for the delay was explained, Faruque Ahmed’s name appears in the published final voter list. On Friday at 4:30 pm, the BCB finalised the names of 192 voters.
Meanwhile, even when councillor forms sent by the BCB were completed following proper procedures and submitted with signatures from the Category District Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners, it did not yield any results. By 17 September, most of the 53 councillor forms submitted from districts and divisions had been rejected by the BCB.
On 18 September, citing the mandatory nomination of councillors by the ad hoc committees of district and divisional sports associations, the BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul sent a letter to the Secretary of Youth and Sports. Following this letter, the District Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners re-nominated the councillors and submitted the completed forms to the BCB.
Four aggrieved councillors from Category-1 filed a writ petition against the BCB president’s intervention in the nomination of councillors in this category. On 22 September, based on their application, the High Court’s writ division issued a 15-day stay on the implementation of the BCB president’s letter and directed the BCB to respond to the rule within 10 days.
However, this High Court order did not remain in effect for long. Shortly afterward, the Appellate Division’s Chamber Judge suspended the High Court’s order. Following the BCB president’s letter, councillors who were re-nominated for the second time by the district and divisional sports associations were included in Category-1 of the BCB draft voter list.
Representatives of the district and divisional sports associations that were excluded in the BCB president’s letter are now looking toward the hearing in the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division.
The BCB election is scheduled to be held on 6 October, with the nomination papers to be distributed on 27 September and submitted on 28 September.
LND/SAE
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