Asif Mahmud, who resigned from his post as an adviser in Bangladesh’s interim government, has clarified that he will contest the upcoming national election from Dhaka-10 as an independent candidate. His statement followed reports that a nomination form had also been collected in his name for the Cumilla-3 constituency. Mahmud told BBC Bangla that he did not personally collect the Cumilla form, explaining that local residents from his home area in Muradnagar obtained it without his knowledge.

Mahmud, originally a voter from Muradnagar in Cumilla, applied in November to change his voter registration to Dhaka-10. On December 12, he announced via a social media video message his intention to run independently from that constituency. He had resigned from the interim government’s advisory council on December 10, a day before the election schedule was announced.

As a former student leader who represented participants in the July uprising, Mahmud previously oversaw the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry and the Youth and Sports Ministry during his tenure as an adviser.