Dhaka, Jan. 22 -- A total of 1972 candidates have been finalised to contest the vote in 298 parliamentary constituencies during the 13th national elections scheduled for February 12 this year.

The aspirants are now ready to kick off their campaigns after they were allocated respective electoral symbols by the returning officers on Wednesday.

According to information available with the Election Commission (EC), 305 aspirants withdrew their candidature.

As the election process has been rescheduled for Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 constituencies, the total number of candidates will increase further.

Of the total 298 constituencies, Dhaka-12 have got highest 15 candidates, followed by Narayanganj-4 with 13 candidates; Dhaka-9, Dhaka-14, Gazipur-2,...