The Election Commission has collected information about Zubaida Rahman, the wife of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, for inclusion in the voter list.
The information was collected in the house-to-house information collection process to update the voter list. When asked on Monday, EC secretariat senior secretary Akhter Ahmed said, "Zubaida Rahman's information has been collected in the update process to be included in the voter list."
He said that although the information collection and registration process is a specific process, the name is included in the final voter list after the entire update process is completed.
To run for the National Assembly elections, a person has to be a voter. A voter can be candidate from any constituency in the country if he wants.
The work of preparing the voter list with a photograph began in 2008. At that time, Tarique and Zubaida Rahman were in London, UK.
The couple left Bangladesh for London on September 11, 2008. After that, they did not return to the country, nor did they become voters. Zubaida Rahman returned to the country with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia after her treatment on May 6.
EC officials completed the process of collecting her personal information and registering her as a voter in Dhaka before Eid-ul-Azha. Zubaida Rahman returned to London on June 5.
According to the law, after the update process, the draft voter list will be published on January 2 next year and the final voter list on March 2. However, if the national elections is held in February, the EC is planning to amend the voter list law and finalize the list before it.
Zubaida Rahman, a doctor by profession, lives in South Surma o Sylhet. She is not active in politics. However, there are rumors about whether she will be a candidate in the next election. After Zubaida Rahman returned to the country recently, there have been various discussions in BNP politics in Sylhet.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
