The BNP will start selling nomination forms for the reserved women’s seats of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad on Friday.

The forms will be available at the party’s central office in Nayapaltan from 11am on April 10 and will continue to be sold until April 12, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Thursday.

He said aspirants will be able to both collect and submit nomination forms during this period, with April 12 set as the final day for both purchase and submission.

The development came after the Election Commission (EC) had announced the election schedule for the 50 reserved women’s seats.

EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed announced the schedule on Wednesday at a press briefing, setting May 12 as the date for the voting.

According to the schedule, the deadline for submission of nomination papers is April 21, which must be submitted to the EC Secretariat.

The nomination papers will be scrutinised on April 22 and 23. The last date for filing appeals against the acceptance and rejection of nomination papers by the returning officer is April 26, while disposal of appeals will take place on April 27 and 28.

The deadline for withdrawal of candidature is April 29, and election symbols will be allocated on April 30. The voting by MPs will be held on May 12.

The reserved seats are filled through an indirect election system based on proportional representation of political parties in the 300 general seats.

MPs are required to cast votes if there is more than one candidate for a seat. However, voting is usually unnecessary as parties generally nominate candidates equal to their allocated seats.

According to the EC, BNP and its allies will receive 36 seats, Jamaat-e-Islami and its alliance partners 13 seats, and independent lawmakers one seat, making a total of 50.

As per the law, the EC must hold elections for the reserved women’s seats within 90 days of the gazette notification of the general election results, which was issued on February 13, the day after the election.