Hasan Uddin Sarker, former chairman of Tongi City Corporation, long-time parliamentarian and BNP candidate for the upcoming Gazipur mayor election, lags behind the younger Awami League candidate Mohammed Jahangir Alam in net wealth.
Declarations submitted by both candidates show Metropolitan General Secretary of Awami League Jahangir has 8.5 times more in wealth than the BNP central leader.
Jahangir filed taxes of Tk 7.8 million against his net wealth of Tk 70.9 million, while Hasan Sarker filed taxes of Tk 80,564 against his net wealth of Tk 8.2 million.
According to the declarations, the AL candidate has an annual income of Tk 20.1 million while the BNP candidate earns Tk 10.1 million per annum.
The 39-year-old Jahangir Alam had missed the Awami League nomination last time, but was selected over Azmat Ullah Khan for this year’s polls.
Jahangir had topped the list of mayoral aspirants' annual income during the Gazipur election of 2013, said election watchdog Shujan (Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik) after analysing their declarations.
The BNP chose 70-year-old Hasan Sarker as their mayor candidate over MA Mannan, who was elected mayor last time after defeating Awami League’s Azmat Ullah.
Nominations for both candidates have been approved and both are scheduled to run in the May 15 polls.
Returning Officer Md Rakib Uddin Mandal approved 9 of the 10 candidature after scrutinising them.
"The nomination of an independent candidate has been cancelled but there is scope to appeal it," Assistant Returning Officer Md Nazrul Islam said.
Jahangir’s declaration
>> Born: May 7, 1979; Educational qualification- MA/LLB; Occupation: Business, MD, Honourable Textile Composite Ltd and Z Alam Apparels.
>> Cases: No pending criminal cases at present, but was acquitted in two cases in 2004-05.
>> Source of income: Tk 150,000 from agriculture; Tk 450,000 in house rent; Tk 9.4 million from business and Tk 11.6 million Tk from 'buying land'.
>> Movable assets: Tk 70.5 million in cash; Tk 155,971 in bank accounts; Tk 7.5 million in business capital; Honourable Textile shares worth Tk 4.8 million; Shares of Z Alam Apparels worth Tk 20,000; Savings certificates worth Tk 1 million; Two cars; Electronic equipment worth Tk 175,000 and furniture worth Tk 150,000; One rifle and one pistol of market Tk 155,950.
>> Immovable assets: Agricultural land 14.15 acres. Non-agricultural land 0.337 acres. Building and commercial land 0.074 acres.
>> Liability: Jahangir has a liability of Tk 80 million in advances for land sales
Declaration by Hasan Sarker
>> Born: Jul 1, 1948; Educational qualifications - BA; Occupation: Business
>> Cases: Two criminal cases; one case filed under Anti-Terrorism Act at Tejgapn Industrial area, the other one is filed with Tongi Police Station under Special Power Act. Three other cases have been settled.
>> Source of income: Tk 63,000 from farming; Tk 522,900 from house rent; Tk 373,000 from business; bank account interest of Tk 11,526, Freedom Fighter allowance of Tk 127, 500. Total personal income - Tk 2 million.
Income of dependents: Tk 25,200 from agriculture; Tk 662,400 as house rent; Tk 3,998 as bank interest.
>> Movable assets: Tk 350, 000 in cash, Tk 6 million as bank deposits, one car worth Tk 2 million, 244 grams of gold, 1.0 shotgun and 1.0 pistol worth Tk 52,000. Total movable property worth of Tk 8.0 million.
His wife owns Tk 1.8 million in cash, Tk 58,542 in a bank account, 373 grams of gold and a rifle worth Tk 10,000.
>> Immovable assets: 5 acres of agricultural land; five stores built on 0.075 acres of residential and building land, land and structures on 0.9 acres of land, 32 rooms in tin shed structures.
There are also 2.08 acres of agricultural land, 0.97 acres of non-agricultural land, a four-storey building of 2,900 sq ft and 32 small buildings in his wife’s name
>> Liability: Loans worth Tk 2.7 million
According to bdnew24, a candidate’s nomination may be cancelled if they submit incorrect information in the declaration to the returning officer.
Former Auditor-General and Adviser to the Care-taker Government M Hafiz Uddin Khan stressed the need to scrutinise the information in declarations made by candidates.
“The people are able to get complete information about the legal property of a candidate from the declaration made to the Election Commission, but the information should be scrutinised,” he said.