Hasnat secures victory in Cumilla-4 as rival withdraws

In a significant shift for the political landscape of Cumilla, Hasnat Abdullah—a prominent student leader of the 2024 July Revolution and chief organizer for the National Citizen Party (NCP)—has been unofficially declared the winner of the Cumilla-4 (Debidwar) seat in the 13^th National Parliament election.

The announcement came on Thursday evening at 8:35 pm from the Assistant Returning Officer and Debidwar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Rakibul Islam. According to official preliminary tallies, Abdullah secured a sweep across all 116 polling stations in the constituency.

“The results from every single center show Hasnat Abdullah in the lead,” Rakibul Islam confirmed to reporters. “While we are still in the process of consolidating the final documentation from all stations, the data clearly indicates he has secured the seat, and we have declared him the unofficial winner.”

The election in Cumilla-4 was marked by the absence of a traditional BNP candidate following the earlier cancellation of Manjurul Ahsan Munshi’s nomination. In his place, the BNP-backed alliance had extended support to Jashim Uddin, a candidate from the Gono Odhikar Parishad running under the “Truck” symbol.

However, the competition effectively ended late Thursday afternoon when Jashim Uddin announced a boycott of the election. In a Facebook Live broadcast at approximately 5:00 pm, the rival candidate cited irregularities and withdrew from the race as the vote-counting process was beginning.

Despite the late-day withdrawal, the electoral data reflects a massive mobilization in the region. The Cumilla-4 constituency comprises 410,559 registered voters, including 215,237 men, 195,319 women, and three third-gender voters.

Abdullah, who campaigned as part of an 11-party alliance led by Jamayate Islami and the National Citizen Party, has framed his victory as a continuation of the reformist spirit that began during the student-led protests two years ago. His win in Debidwar is expected to be a cornerstone for the NCP as it seeks to establish a new political foothold in the post-revolutionary era.