DHAKA: Among the candidates from religious minority communities in the Bangladesh elections, four have secured victory. All the winning candidates are from the BNP. While the party had fielded six candidates from minority communities, Jamaat-e-Islami and Jatiya Nagorik Party had nominated one each.
The results hold significance in the backdrop of violence targeting the religious Hindu minority in the country. The community has faced a series of attacks, some fatal, after the killing of radical youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi in Dec.
Among the winners are Gayeswar Chandra Roy, Nitai Roy Chowdhury, Saching Pru and Dipen Dewan. While Gayeswar Roy is a former state minister, Nitai Roy is the vice chairman of BNP’s central committee. Gayeswar won from Dhaka-3 constituency defeating his nearest rival from Jamaate-Islami, Md Shahinur Islam by over 16,000 seats. Nitai defeated Jamaat’s Md Mushtarshed Billah by over 30,000 votes. While Pru won from Bandarban constituency by over 100,000 votes; Dewan, who won from Rangamati seat, defeated his rival by over 150,000 votes.
