Hours after announcing that Jatiya Party candidates floated outside the Awami League-led coalition will quit from the polls race, its chief HM Ershad says he has been misquoted by the media.
In a statement sent to the media late on Thursday (Dec 27), the special envoy to the PM said he was “very disappointed” over the media reports misquoting him.
It said that the party candidates contesting separately from the ruling party-led Grand Alliance will contest the Dec 30 polls with the party’s polls logo plough.
“No one is stepping aside from the polls. They are being instructed to remain in the race,” reads the statement.
Earlier in the day, Ershad told a media briefing at his Baridhara residence in Dhaka that he has dropped out from the polls race in Dhaka-17 seat and extended his support to Awami League candidate former movie star Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque. The Jatiya Party chief also announced that he was stepping down from the race in Satkhira-4.
The former military dictator is still contesting the polls from Rangpur-3 with his party's logo, but as the Grand Alliance's pick.
Jatiya Party was allotted 29 seats by the ruling alliance but the party said that candidates in nearly 140 other seats will compete separately.

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