Upazila polls: AL in for bitter infighting
In the wake of Awami League's decision not to back any candidate and allow anyone to use the party's electoral symbol in the upcoming upazila elections, many grassroots and central leaders are throwing their weight behind the candidates of their liking.
Ultimately, a political power struggle will likely ensue in the coming weeks among grassroots leaders, incumbent ministers and MPs, defeated MP candidates and the so-called AL independent lawmakers who won the January election race.
Grassroots leaders are making desperate efforts to win the election already, while AL big shots, ministers and parliament members are seeking to retain control over upazila parishads.
Take some examples.
AL Central Working Committee Member and Barishal-1 MP Abul Hasnat Abdullah on March 31 announced the "AL candidates" for all 10 upazilas of the district without any discussion with the respective MPs in those areas, sources said.
Most MPs from the district, which has six constituencies, are also trying hard to field candidates loyal to them.
Noakhali district AL President and Subarnachar upazila Chairman AHM Khairul Anam Chowdhury, 75, at an extended meeting of the upazila on Thursday said Noakhali-4 MP Ekramul Karim Chowdhury named his son Atahar Ishrak Sabab Chowdhury as chairman candidate simply to insult him, according to meeting sources.
"I never wanted to be an MP. I never opposed anyone… Then why shall I be insulted by a young boy?" the sources quoted the three-time chairman as telling the meeting.
On Saturday, Tangail's Madhupur thana unit AL president and general secretary wrote to party President Sheikh Hasina for her action against party Presidium Member Abdur Razzaque for declaring the AL candidate there without consulting the top leaders of the upazila.
Razzaque, the immediate past agriculture minister, named upazila AL Vice-president Yakub Ali, ignoring the upazila unit general secretary and incumbent Madhupur upazila Chairman Sarwar Alam Khan Abu.
Besides, 12 AL lawmakers and one state minister already announced the "AL candidates" loyal to them or their close relatives, grassroots and central AL leaders said.
Ahead of the January 7 polls, around 50 upazila chairmen had resigned to join the parliament election. Of the 40 that eventually joined the race, seven won with AL's electoral symbol and nine as the so-called independent contenders.
Many of the rest upazila chairmen who lost the battle are also seeking to take part in the upazila polls, to be started in phases from May 8.
Former Muksudpur upazila chairman Kabir Miah is one of them. He lost to Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Mohammad Faruk Khan (Gopalganj-1). He is now vying for the same upazila.
Like Kabir, former upazila chairmen Mokshedul Momin, Gazi Mainuddin, Tarikul Islam and Sheikh Akram Hossain had vied for Nilphamari-4, Chandpur-5, Dinajpur-4 and Khulna-5 respectively. They have now started making preparations to join the local election, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, some incumbent MPs are working to ensure easy win for the candidates loyal to them and further tighten their grip on the local politics.
AL sources said this may deepen the already existing rivalry that started centring on the January 7 polls.
On the other hand, some AL-nominated MP candidates who lost to the so-called independent candidates are trying to regain ground by backing their own candidates against the MP-sponsored candidates.
A total of 62 independent candidates won the 12th national election. Of them, 57 are leaders of AL and its associate and front organisations. AL men who hold party portfolios in grassroots ran against party-nominated candidates in 181 constituencies out of the total 300.
Like the national election, the upazila polls may ultimately turn out to be a battle between AL candidates, as mostly the AL contenders, and in some cases Jamaat leaders, are preparing to run.
To minimise the already existing rift, AL top brass have recently started division-wise meetings with grassroots leaders, MPs and the so-called independent MPs. In some of those meetings, party leaders engaged in altercations in a further display of their differences over local politics, sources said.
AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said responsible people should act responsibly.
"It is unfortunate if any MP picks his son or wife or relatives as party candidates for the upazila election," he told The Daily Star yesterday.
Asked about possible confrontations, he said the party's district units have a role in this regard.