DHAKA: With Bangladesh Awami League not participating this time, a total of 80 candidates from religious and ethnic minority communities are contesting Bangladesh's national parliamentary election scheduled for Feb 12. Of these candidates, 12 are running as independents and 10 are women, according to officials of Election Commission and available data.
A total of 22 political parties, including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, have nominated 68 candidates from minority communities. Bangladesh Communist Party (CPB) has fielded the highest number of 17 minority candidates.
