Ahead of the 13th national parliamentary election, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has released a preliminary list of candidates for 237 constituencies.

The announcement was made on Monday at a press conference by Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will contest from Bogura-7, Dinajpur-3 and Feni 1, while Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman will contest from Bogura-6. Mirza Fakhrul himself will run from Thakurgaon-1.

Other Standing Committee members will also contest: Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed from Bhola-3 and Mirza Abbas from Dhaka-8.

The preliminary candidate list had been finalised in a meeting of the party’s Standing Committee, led by Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.

Fakhrul said, “After 16 years, we are heading for a democratic election in February. This list covers likely candidates for 235 constituencies. For seats where joint movement allies have candidates, BNP will coordinate accordingly.”

He also noted that the party conducted ground-level surveys to select candidates with the best chances of winning.

Among others, Standing Committee members Dr. Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moin Khan, Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Selima Rahman, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, and Dr. AZM Zahid Hossain, were present on the occasion.