Comilla City Election: Infighting may cost Awami League victory

Infighting within the district Awami League might make it difficult for mayor candidate Anjum Sultana Shima to win the upcoming Comilla City Corporation polls.

This could give BNP nominee Monirul Haque Sakku an edge over Shima in the battle of ballots slated for March 30.

Several local AL leaders said the over three-decade intra-party rivalry might cost party candidate dearly in the election if the AL high-ups fail to resolve the differences.

The two AL factions are led by Shima's father Afzal Khan, former convener of Comilla (south) AL, and the ruling party's local lawmaker AKM Bahauddin Bahar.

In the maiden Comilla city polls in 2012, Afzal ran for mayor with backing from AL. Bahar and his supporters did not campaign for the party favourite, said local AL leaders.

Afzal subsequently lost the election to his nearest rival Sakku by over 30,000 votes.

Bahar won party ticket to contest the parliamentary polls in 2014. But Afzal fielded his son Masud Parvez Khan Imran to run in the election as an independent candidate. However, Imran lost to Bahar.

According to AL sources, both Bahar and Afzal in the last couple of months lobbied top party leaders to secure nomination for their mayor favourites.

Bahar backed his aide Arfanul Haque Rifat, former vice president of district Jubo League, the AL's youth wing. But the party picked Shima for mayor.

Frustrated at this, Bahar's supporters were not campaigning for Shima, added the sources.

Krishak League Vice-chairman Omar Faruk, former VP of Comilla Victoria Government College Central Students Union Nur-ur-Rahman Mahmud Tanim and former joint convener of district AL Shafiqur Rahman Sikder, among others, were working for Shima.

Former organising secretary of Comilla Chhatra League Kazi Nahidul Hoque said, “We are not getting the desired response and support from the supporters of local MP Bahar due to the long-standing rivalry between the two Awami League factions. We hope the prime minister would intervene in the issue to resolve the differences.”

Bahar's close aide Abdullah Al Mahmud Shohid said, “It's a reality that there are two factions in Comilla Awami League. But we have forgotten all our rivalries as soon as our Netri [Sheikh Hasina] nominated Shima for mayor. We are working to ensure victory for her.”

He hoped those who were yet to join Shima's campaign would do so soon.

Talking to The Daily Star, Bahar admitted that there were grievances among the AL leaders and activists over nominations. He hoped the grievances would be resolved.

The AL high-ups assigned a team, led by party's Organising Secretary Enamul Haque Shamim, to coordinate Shima's electoral campaign and control the intra-party feud, Shohid told this newspaper on Wednesday.

Despite repeated attempts, this newspaper could not reach Shima over the phone for her comments.

BNP EYES WIN

Some central and Comilla BNP leaders said they were determined to secure victory for the party's mayor candidate.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia gave Nazrul Islam Khan, member of the standing committee, responsibility for having all the Comilla party men under one umbrella to campaign for Sakku, said a senior leader.

Apart from the two leading candidates, Rashida Akhter of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rob) is running for mayor, while 180 councillor hopefuls are contesting 36 posts.

Comilla City Corporation was formed on July 10, 2011. Around 5 lakh people live in the city, including 2.07 lakh voters.

Our Comilla correspondent Khalid Bin Nazrul contributed to this report.