United News of Bangladesh

The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday warned that collecting voters’ personal information and national identity card (NID) details in the name of electioneering is a punishable offence. “It has come to the Bangladesh Election Commission’s notice that some people are collecting voters’ personal data and National Identity (NID) under the guise of election campaigning. According to the National Identity Card Registration Act 2010, one cannot carry or transfer another's National Identity Card (NID)," said EC in a press release. The electioneering officially began on Thursday (January 22) ahead of the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum scheduled to be held simultaneously on February 12. Referring to provisions of the Parliamentary Election Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates Rules, 2025, the Commission said no political party, candidate or anyone on their behalf is allowed to offer or promise any donation, contribution or gift to any person, groups or institutions residing in the electoral area. “These activities are punishable offences under these rules. The Election Commission urges all citizens and organisations to refrain from such practices,” the EC said. Earlier, on January 13, a BNP delegation lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging that a particular political party has been collecting voters’ NID details and mobile phone numbers across the country. Calling the move ‘suspicious and unprecedented’, BNP Central Election Steering Committee Chairman Nazrul Islam Khan said such activities could be aimed at creating fake voters or influencing voting behavior. Nazrul Islam said the collection of mobile financial service numbers could indicate the possibility of monetary transactions. The election campaign began officially on Thursday after the Commission allocated electoral symbols on Wednesday to as many as 1,972 candidates contesting the upcoming election from 298 constituencies, excluding Pabna-1 and Pabna-2. The number of contesting candidates would rise further once contestants from Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 are added. Currently, there are nine valid candidates in the two constituencies. Altogether, the total number of candidates across the 300 constituencies stands at 1,981—comprising 1,732 candidates from 51 registered political parties and 249 independent candidates. The Election Commission on December 11 announced the schedule to hold the 13th parliament election and the referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order simultaneously on February 12 next.