More than 1,000 aspirants have collected nomination forms from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to seek party tickets for the reserved seats for women in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad.

On the second day of form sales, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that the party would give priority to women who had played active roles in movements, possessed the ability to speak in parliament, and enjoyed a good reputation in society.

BNP began selling nomination forms on Friday, while Sunday is the last day for both sale and submission.

BNP media cell member Shayrul Kabir Khan said that 1,025 forms were sold over the two days.

Out of the 50 reserved seats for women in Jatiya Sangsad, the BNP-led alliance will get 36 seats, the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance 13, and independents one, according to the Election Commission.

Regarding the selection process, Rizvi said that the applications would be sent to a board formed with senior party leaders, adding that the procedure would be announced soon.

‘BNP will follow its traditional democratic practices in selecting candidates, as it has always done,’ he said.

Highlighting the party’s long struggle, Rizvi said, ‘We have gone through a very difficult period over the past 16 or 17 years. We had to fight a long battle to ensure a free and fair election. Now a democratic environment has been created, and we must make the best use of it.’

Emphasising the role of women, he said, ‘Women have played a very important role in past movements. Many were arrested late at night for expressing independent opinions on social media and were subjected to repression and torture. The party must evaluate those brave women.’

The price of each nomination form has been set at Tk 2,000, while candidates are required to deposit Tk 50,000 as security at the time of submission.

Earlier, on April 8, the Bangladesh Election Commission announced the schedule for the election to the reserved women’s seats.

According to the schedule, the deadline for submission of nomination papers is April 21. Scrutiny will be held on April 22 and 23.

Appeals can be filed on April 26 and will be disposed of on April 27 and 28.

Election symbols will be allocated to final candidates on April 30, and voting will be held on May 12.