Dhaka, Aug. 18 -- Neither of the two presidential candidates withdrew from the race within the stipulated deadline of 4:00pm Tuesday, paving the way for voting in the presidential election on Thursday (August 20), nearly 35 years after the country last witnessed a presidential election contested by more than one candidate.

BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Jamaat-led 11-party alliance contender Col (Retd) Oli Ahmad are running in the presidential election.

"There are two valid candidates in the presidential election. The deadline for withdrawal of candidacy expired at 4pm today (Tuesday). None of them withdrew their candidacy within the stipulated time," Election Commission Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told repo...