Eight elected unopposed ahead of BCB polls

At least eight councillors have been elected unopposed as directors in the upcoming Bangladesh Cricket Board elections, scheduled for June 7, after the Election Commission (EC) published the final list of candidates on Monday.

According to the EC, three councillors -- one from Chattogram Division and two from Category-2 (clubs) -- withdrew their nominations on the final day of withdrawal.

From Category-1, Minhajul Abedin Nannu and Moyeen Uddin Chowdhury were elected unopposed from Chattogram Division after Shoriful Islam Apu of the Feni District Sports Association withdrew despite having his nomination approved.

Sayed Bin Zaman and S M Abdullah Al Fuad also secured uncontested victories from Dhaka Division, while Mir Shakrul Alam Simanto (Rajshahi), Mirza Faisal Amin (Rangpur), Abdul Qaiyum Chowdhury (Sylhet) -- all from Category-1 -- and Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir from Category-3 were elected unopposed.

Earlier, Jashim Uddin Khan Khoshru of the Gopalganj District Sports Association had his nomination for the Dhaka Division polls rejected by the EC. His appeal against the decision was also dismissed.

Elections, however, will take place in Khulna and Barishal divisions, where the number of candidates exceeds the available positions. Three directors will be elected from the two sub-categories.

In Khulna, Mohammad Shafiqul Alam, Shantanu Islam and Mohammad Abdus Salam will vie for two seats, while Mohammad Mizanur Rahman and Mohammad Muntasir Alam Chowdhury will contest for one spot in Barishal.

Meanwhile, elections will also be held in the club category despite the withdrawals of Mohammad Lutfor Rahman of Legends of Rupganj and Mohammad Mahmud-ur-Rahman of Old DOHS Sports Club. Sixteen councillors will contest for 12 positions.

The candidates are Fahim Sinha, Masuduzzaman, Asif Rabbani, Foiyazur Rahman, Yasir Mohammed Foysal Ashik, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Amzad Hossain, Mirza Yasir Abbas, Israfil Khosru, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam Babu, Professor Dr Sarkar Mahbub Ahmed Shamim, Shanian Taneem, Sayeed Ibrahim Ahmed, Syed Borhanul Hossain, Shafiq Ahmed Salam and Major Imroze Ahmed (Retd).

Foysal, Amzad and Shanian were members of the Aminul Islam Bulbul-led BCB board that was dissolved on April 7. Before the dissolution, all three had resigned citing personal reasons.