Shakib will face competition from four other contenders for the parliamentary seat. They are: Bangladesh Congress’ Kazi Rezaul Hossain, Jatiya Party’s MD Sirajas Saifin, Bangladesh Nationalist Front’s KM Motasim Billa and Trinamool BNP’s Sanjay Kumar Roy.
Local stakeholders said none of these candidates were likely to pose any real challenge to Shakib as the three parties except JAPA were new to voters.