Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) leader Tasnim Jara has announced her intention to contest Bangladesh’s upcoming national election from Dhaka-9 constituency, promising a fully transparent campaign that adheres strictly to legal spending limits.

Jara, the party’s Senior Joint Member Secretary, confirmed her candidacy in a Facebook post on Saturday.

The constituency includes the neighbourhoods of Khilgaon, Sabujbagh, Mugda and Manda. If nominated, she is expected to face BNP candidate and former Chhatra Dal general secretary Habibur Rashid Habib, as well as Jamaat e Islami-backed Kabir Ahmed, who also serves as a central vice president of the Bangladesh Workers Welfare Federation.

In her statement, Jara criticised the widespread discrepancy between the official campaign spending cap and actual expenditures on the ground.

She noted that although election laws restrict candidates to spending no more than Tk 25 lakh, reports frequently indicate campaign budgets reaching Tk 20 crore, Tk 50 crore or even Tk 100 crore, with only the legal limit reported to the Election Commission.

According to Jara, this practice means many candidates begin their political careers by “breaking the law and relying on falsehoods”. She stressed that she would not participate in what she described as a culture of dishonesty.

Jara said she has formally sought the NCP nomination for Dhaka 9 and pledged to remain within the official spending threshold. She further committed to publicly reporting all campaign donations and expenditures before polling day, stating that every financial detail would be made available to ensure complete transparency.