Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami candidate for Dhaka-16 Col. (Retd.) Abdul Baten. Photo: Collected

DHAKA, Feb 08, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami candidate for Dhaka-16 Col. (Retd.) Abdul Baten, has said if his party is voted to power, the first focus will be on the medical services for the common people of his constituency.

“I will establish a government hospital here so that people can get treatment at a low cost,” he told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the state-run national news agency, in an exclusive interview recently. 

The Dhaka-16 constituency consists of Pallabi and Rupnagar police stations - wards 2, 3, 5, 6, under the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) with a total of 400,499 voters, including 201,168 male and 199,323 female while only eight voters are from transgender (hijra) community.

Noting that this area is mainly inhabited by the lower and middle class people of the city, he said the illegal drugs, extortion, encroachment and terrorism are the main problems here and these usually persist with the patronage of the ruling party.

“If the people give us a chance, the problems would be resolved. If we don’t patronize, these will go away automatically. Besides, work will be done to develop all the roads in this area,” he assured.

The Jamaat leader categorically said the people want to get rid of the one-party rule as well as want someone new and the Jamaat-e-Islam is the only alternative before them.

The countrymen witnessed the August 5, when people were with  Jamaat, he mentioned saying “Therefore, Jamaat-e-Islami is on their preferred list. Voters have decided not to vote for any seen extortionists,”

About the election code of conduct, he said the Jamaat-e-Islami is a disciplined political party and we have informed the Election Commission that our opponent has violated the code of conduct.

Regarding the referendum, he said, “Along with the campaign for the scale (Daripalla Symbol), we are doing campaign for ‘yes vote,”. We want the people’s desire for change, to establish a society without discrimination and also want the constitution to be amended in line with it.”

About the balance of the power between the Prime Minister and the President, Abdul Baten said, “Constitutional institutions should be formed in a systematic way . . . The practice of the Prime Minister coming from the same family should be stopped. We want leadership to emerge from the grassroots.”

The Jamaat candidate also expressed hope that Jamaat would come to power this time if upcoming polls of the country to be held in a free, fair and impartial manner.

The candidates for Dhaka-16 constituency are: BNP- Md Aminul Huq, Jamaat-e-Islami- Md Abdul Baten, Islami Andolan Bangladesh- Md Saiful Islam, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan-Mohammad Touhiduzzaman, Muktijote- Abdul Quader Jilani, Gono Odhikar Parishad- Md Mamun Hossain, Bangladesh Labor Party- AKM Moazzem Hossain, NPP-Md Tarikul Islam, Bangladesh Jatiya PartyBJP)- Md Nazmul Haque,  Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal- Rashidul Islam and Jatiya Party candidate is Sultan Ahmed Selim .