Rebel candidates vex AL in many UPs

Like the elections to other local government bodies, the upcoming union parishad polls will see rebel candidates of the ruling Awami League in many UPs, including those in the constituencies of the party president and general secretary.

Five UPs in Tungipara, which is in the constituency of AL President Sheikh Hasina, will go to polls in the first phase on March 22, but each of the UPs have two AL rebels vying for the chairman post.

Out of 10 UPs in Kishoreganj Sadar, which is in the constituency of AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, rebel candidates are still in the race in seven UPs.

As of yesterday, AL rebels in most of the unions are likely to contest the first phase of the elections, ignoring warnings of tough actions against them.

Today is the last date of withdrawal of candidature.

However, the picture is different in Bagerhat. There is not a single AL rebel candidate in the 74 UPs of the district. In 19 UPs, no candidates except for the ruling party backed ones are running the polls. In seven UPs, candidatures of chairman aspirants of other political parties were cancelled after scrutiny.

Elections to 738 union parishads, the biggest grassroots-level polls, will be held on March 22 on partisan lines for the first time in the country's history.

AL's archrival BNP, however, is not facing such problems. The party has a very few rebels running in the polls.

Take Satkhira for an example. Of the 78 unions in the district, AL rebels are vying for the chairman post in 70 unions, while the BNP has only a few dissidents.

According to media reports, there are around 400 AL rebels in 738 unions, while the BNP has around 100 dissidents in 624 unions.

BNP insiders said their candidates could not file nominations in 71 unions, while nominations of the party-backed 34 candidates were cancelled during scrutiny. The party has been alleging that many of its candidates were barred from submitting nominations, and that their papers had been torn up in several unions.

AL rebels are reportedly still in the polls race in 50 UPs out of 89 in Dhaka division, while the party rebels are running in six UPs out of eight in Sylhet division.

In Barisal division, AL dissidents are running in 162 UPs out of 273, while the party rebels are vying for the chairman post in 102 UPs out of 252 in Khulna division.

In Rajshahi division, elections will be held in 31 UPs and the AL still has rebels in 14 of them.

In Rangpur division, dissidents are contesting in 12 UPs out of 14. In Chittagong division, the AL has rebels in 38 UPs out of 71 that would go to polls.

The AL already warned its grassroots leaders and activists of tough actions, including expulsion, against party dissidents.

However, party leaders hoped that none would go against the party decision and that the rebel candidates would withdraw nominations today.

AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif hoped that all rebels would withdraw their nominations.

According to party sources, members of the party parliamentary board had a series of meetings with leaders over the last couple of days and tried to convince party dissidents to withdraw from the polls race.

A board member yesterday told this correspondent that they talked to district leaderships and respective divisional organising secretaries over the last few days and asked them to convince party rebels.

“In some cases, we were successful, but in other cases we failed to convince party rebels. Those who didn't pay heed would be expelled from the party,” he said, wishing anonymity.

Sources in the party said opinions of the grassroots were ignored while nominating candidates, resulting in the rise of rebels.

Regarding the BNP rebels, Emran Saleh Prince, a member of the party's election coorditaion committee, told The Daily Star that they were not worried about the number of dissidents.

He too hoped that the rebels would eventually quit and work for the party nominees.

“The upazila and district units are convincing the dissidents to withdraw from the polls race,” he added.