A total of 174 appeals were filed with the Election Commission on Thursday, the fourth day of filing appeals, with 164 of them challenging the cancellation of nomination papers and 10 contesting the acceptance of a nomination by returning officers.

Filing appeals challenging the cancellation of nomination papers and contesting the acceptance of nominations by returning officers began on January 5, with the deadline set to end today, Friday.

In the past four days, 469 appeals were filed with the EC.

A total of 2,568 nomination papers were submitted for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections, of which 1,842 were declared valid after the scrutiny.

Three nomination papers had been submitted for former prime minister and BNP chair Khaleda Zia for the Feni-1, Bogura-7, and Dinajpur-3 JS constituencies.

However, following her  death on December 30, the EC said that those nominations were not taken up for scrutiny.

The EC data show that nomination papers of the highest number of independent candidates – 338 – were rejected during the scrutiny.

Among the political parties, the Jatiya Party accounted for the largest number — 59 — of rejected nominations, followed by Islami Andolan Bangladesh with 39 nominations.

The BNP and the Communist Party of Bangladesh each saw 25 nomination papers rejected.

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami had 10 nominations rejected, while three candidates from the National Citizen Party were disqualified.

Chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin visited the appeals submission booth at the Agargaon EC headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday and told reporters that no manipulated election would be conducted in the country and there was, therefore, no reason for people to take to the streets.

Regarding appeals against the rejection or acceptance of nomination papers by returning officers, the CEC said that the aggrieved parties had the right to file appeals, adding that the commission, as the appellate authority, would ensure the highest level of justice.

The law, he said, is equal for all, adding that everyone was bound to abide by it.

Responding to a query, the CEC said that this year nomination papers were submitted in a very congenial environment without any reported incidents, which he described as a positive development.

The appeal hearings would be conducted in phases at the EC auditorium at Agargaon, beginning on January 10.

The hearings are scheduled to run daily from 10:00am in January 10-18, though the timeframe may be adjusted depending on the number of appeals received.

During the hearings, the returning officers concerned or their representatives, along with the appellant, would be required to be present with all relevant documents.