An election inquiry committee for Feni-3 constituency (Daganbhuiyan and Sonagazi upazilas) severed a showcause notice to Jatiya Party (JaPa)-nominated candidate Lt. Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury on charge of violating the polls code of conduct.
Feni Joint District and Sessions Judge and also Chairman of the inquiry committee Khairunnessa issued the notice asking to reply him in writing to the committee in person at 3 pm on Friday.
According to section 7 (3) of the Political Parties and Candidates Conduct Rules- 2008, a candidate can’t print any photo or symbol of any person other than his or her own photo on the election poster or banner.
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (3) 7 (4) of the Code of Conduct 2008, if a contesting candidate is nominated by a registered political party, he or she can only print the photo of the current party chief.
On Tuesday afternoon, the JaPa candidate used a photo of Awami League president Sheikh Hasina on a banner at a views exchange meeting at Sonagazi upazila.
Awami League-nominated candidate for (Sadar upazila Nizam Uddin Hazari, who was present on the occasion as the chief guest, sought vote for Masud who is contesting with ‘plough’ symbol.
In the banner, a small photo of JaPa’s chairman GM Quader was used while there was a big photo of Sheikh Hasina.
Several media outlets reported on the violation of the electoral code of conduct on Wednesday.
Later, the election inquiry committee came to know about the matter and issued the showcause notice on Thursday.
Though the Awami League initially picked up their party man Abul Bashar for the constituency, later he was withdrawn and finally Masud was selected for the race.