Defeat of AL Chairman Aspirants: Some MPs' role, money mattered

Ruling party lawmakers contributed significantly to the win of rebels against the party-backed candidates in at least five districts in Wednesday's Zila Parishad election.

In as many districts, however, local Awami League MPs and leaders failed to pull off victory for their party-sponsored chairman aspirants.

And in at least three districts, the rebel candidates “spent big money” to ensure their win, although three such dissidents lost to the party-backed men despite their efforts to influence voters with money, party insiders said.

Electoral codes bar lawmakers to join any kind of polls activities, including campaigns. But many MPs gave no heed to this.

The returning officer of Rajshahi warned three AL lawmakers for seeking votes for the AL-backed candidate Mahbub Zaman Bhulu. Even the state minister for foreign affairs, Shahriar Alam, sought votes for him through his Facebook page. District AL leaders also worked for him, but he still lost. 

Only a handful of district and grassroots AL leaders worked for the party rebel Mohammad Ali Sarkar, who beat Bhulu by 325 votes. Ali bagged 742 votes and Bhulu 417.

Sources in the local AL alleged that Ali distributed a lot of money among voters, which Ali dismissed as false.

In Panchagarh, AL rebel Amanullah Bacchu beat AL-backed candidate Mahfuzur Rahman, who was backed by local lawmakers and the district AL.

Two other candidates, supported by lawmakers in the district, came out third and fourth in the race boycotted by the BNP and the Jatiya Party.

In Sunamganj, all district lawmakers worked for AL-backed candidate Enamul Kabir Emon. Yet, he lost to party rebel Nurul Huda Mukut, general secretary of the district AL for the last 16 years. He got the support of the local leaders and workers. Mukut got 797 votes against Emon's 417.

In Pirojpur, local lawmaker AKM Awal and other leaders worked for party rebel Mohiuddin Moharaj. AL-backed candidate Shah Alam bagged 302 votes and Moharaj 423. 

In Satkhira, AL favorite Monsur Ahmed, also president of the district AL, lost to the party revel, as the party rank and file was “highly annoyed” with him for years for his “corruption and misbehaviour”.

Ahmed dismissed the allegations, saying some lawmakers, upazila chairmen and party leaders worked against him to ensure victory for Nazrul Islam, the rebel candidate.   

Nazrul, general secretary of the district AL, is locally known for his good manners and strong ties with the grassroots, sources said. 

In Jamalpur, AL rebel Faruque Ahmed Chowdhury beat party candidate HR Zahid by 227 votes.

Party insiders said the state minister for jute and textile, Mirza Azam, extended his support to Faruque. Azam, also a former general secretary of Juba League, has close contacts with party grassroots who voted for Faruque.

In Narail, the lone AL lawmaker of the district Kabirul Haque Mukti, district AL President Subhash Chandra Bose and Sadar Upazila Chairman Syed Foyzul Amir Litu worked for party rebel Soharab Hossain Biswas, a member of the district AL.

AL-backed Syed Ayub Ali, a vice-president of the district AL, got hardly any support from the party leaders and workers, sources said.

In Chuadanga, it seemed that the election was between two lawmakers. The lawmaker from sadar constituency and the district AL supported Mahfuzur Rahman, who got 247 votes. The rebel candidate, Shamsul Abedin, who was supported by another lawmaker and the municipal mayor, got 266 votes.

In Brahmanbaria, AL rebel Shafiqul Alam, who was dropped from the district AL committee by an influential party leader and lawmaker, pulled off a “miraculous” win. He defeated the AL backed candidate by 51 votes, though no important party leaders were with him, at least publicly.

Before the election, hardly anyone was seen seeking votes for him, sources said, adding that the influential leader did everything to ensure victory for AL-supported candidate Emdadul Bari in vain.

AL insiders said party General Secretary Obaidul Quader wanted to force party rebels to withdraw their candidacies. But party chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked him not to be too tough on them.

Contacted, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said as district council elections were not held on party lines, the AL just extended support to some candidates. The party did not take any tough action against rebels as no other parties took part in the election.

“If there were no other [rebels from the party] candidates, everyone backed by the Awami League would have own uncontested, as no other parties fielded any candidates. That is why we were flexible and soft on them [rebels],” he said.

In the first-ever district council election since independence, AL bagged 25 chairman posts while party rebels took 11 posts. A Jatiya Party man and an independent candidate won in two districts on Wednesday, when 38 districts went to polls to elect chairmen. Earlier, 21 AL candidates won unopposed. In two districts, polls to the post of chairman were postponed following a High Court order.

In all, AL-sponsored candidates bagged 46 of the 61 district council chairman posts.

There are 64 district councils in the country. But polls to the three hill districts -- Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari -- are held separately under their own law. 

[Our correspondents in Sunamganj, Pirojpur and Brahmanbaria contributed to this report.]