AL may opt for a new face in south

The ruling Awami League is likely to pick a new face as its candidate for Dhaka South City Corporation mayoral polls, but it appears to be in a dilemma about choosing its mayor aspirant for Dhaka North City Corporation.

Fazle Noor Taposh, party lawmaker from Dhaka-10, is being considered to be a frontrunner for the AL ticket in the DSCC mayor election.

For the DNCC mayor polls, the AL may name either incumbent Mayor M Atiqul Islam or its presidium member Jahangir Kabir Nanak as its candidate, said party sources.

On December 22, the Election Commission announced that the DNCC and the DSCC elections would be held on January 30.  December 31 is the last date for submitting nomination papers, while January 9 is the deadline for the withdrawal of candidacy. The EC will scrutinise nomination papers on January 2.

AL insiders said the party’s top leaders think current DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon could not bring positive changes in areas under the city corporation’s jurisdiction. He also could not act properly to prevent and tackle the dengue outbreak earlier this year.

Talking to The Daily Star last night, the mayor’s protocol officer Habibul Islam Sumon, however, claimed AL chief Sheikh Hasina told Khokon to start election-related activities. He said Khokon met Hasina at the Gono Bhaban around 8:30pm.

The AL’s top leadership, however, was not blaming incumbent DNCC Mayor Atiqul for not properly tackling the dengue situation as he was new to the post when the outbreak hit the city, said party sources.

Atiqul was elected mayor in a by-election in February.

Talking about Taposh, a top AL leader, wishing not to be named, said, “There are strong possibilities that the party high-ups would nominate him as the DSCC mayor candidate.”

According to AL insides, Taposh bought nomination form with the consent of party chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

They said Taposh may get the party ticket for the mayor polls and if he contests the election, he will have to resign as Dhaka-10 MP.

If Taposh steps down, his brother Prof Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, the newly-elected Jubo League chairman, would seek AL nomination to become lawmaker from the constituency, the sources said.

Taposh and Parash are two sons of Jubo League’s founding chairman Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni. Moni and his pregnant wife Arzoo Moni were assassinated along with the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15, 1975.

Amid speculations over who would get the AL nomination for the DSCC mayor polls, Khokon yesterday collected his nomination form from the party chief’s Dhanmondi office in the capital.

While talking to reporters outside the office, Khokon, son of late AL leader and former mayor of Dhaka City Corporation Mohammad Hanif, broke down in tears and said “I joined politics holding the hand of my father. In his absence, Sheikh Hasina is my guardian.  She will do whatever she thinks is better.”

Taposh and Haji Mohammad Selim, MP from Dhaka-7, bought nomination forms for the DSCC mayor election on Wednesday, the first day of the sale of the forms.

Atiqul Islam bought his the same day.

AL Office Secretary Biplab Barua said 17 leaders collected nomination forms for contesting polls for the mayoral posts in the two city corporations. The number of ward councillor aspirants was 700 till yesterday.

Party insiders said Nanak has expressed his desire to run for the DNCC mayor. A former lawmaker from Dhaka-13, Nanak was not given party ticket from the parliamentary seat in the last general election on December 30 last year.

“Nanak’s desire has created a dilemma for the party about its mayor candidate,” an AL leader said.

Nanak, however, was yet to collect his nomination form.

The party would conclude the sale of nomination forms today and finalise its candidates tomorrow.

AL-backed Sayeed Khokon and Annisul Huq won the previous mayoral polls to the DSCC and DNCC, held on April 28, 2015.

The party nominated businessperson Atiqul Islam for a mayoral by-polls held in February this year after the post fell vacant with the death of Annisul Huq on November 30, 2017.

Except the ones in Sylhet and Cumilla, the ruling party candidates won all the mayoral elections in 10 city corporations out of the 12.

The party conducted several surveys on its possible candidates and the survey reports were with Hasina, according to the party’s General Secretary Obaidul Quader.

Candidates with acceptance among party’s rank and file would get nominations, he said yesterday while talking to reporters in Narayanganj.

Quader, also minister for Road Transport and Bridges, said the party would not nominate anyone controversial.