They fill the void

Family members of at least 25 BNP leaders who died in the last 10 years are likely to get party tickets.

Top leaders as well the ones in the grassroots agree that nominating the family members of the deceased leaders will help the party avoid rifts, senior BNP leaders said.

A total of 2,420 aspirants were interviewed by the party's acting chairman, secretary general and standing committee members until Tuesday.

The BNP is likely to finalise its picks by tomorrow, BNP Standing Committee Member Moudud Ahmed told The Daily Star.

“It remains a deep concern that a number of seasoned politicians have already died. I think most of the nominations will be given to the family members of the dead leaders. Party leaders and activists also want this,” he added.

A BNP team, including Standing Committee Member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, is negotiating with the components of the Jatiya Oikyafront and 20-party alliance about seat-sharing.

BNP leaders said the alliance members had provided a list of hopefuls and the parties were discussing finalising the candidates.

Khandakar Delwar Hossain, who was secretary general of the party, died in 2011. He was elected from Manikganj-1 several times. His son Abdul Hamid Dablu has been interviewed by the BNP's nomination committee.

Dablu is likely to be nominated, insiders said.

Tariqul Islam, who was a standing committee member, died about a month ago. He was elected several times from Jessore-3. He was a key BNP leader in the southern region of the country.

His son Anindya Islam Anik, assistant organising secretary of Khulna division BNP, is likely to be nominated in the constituency.

BNP leader ASM Hannan Shah died in 2016. The former standing committee member's son Shah Reazul Hannan is likely to get the party ticket for Gazipur-4.

ATM Shamsul Islam, who was a minister and a top leader, died early this year. His son Saiful Islam is likely to contest in Munshiganj-3.

Late industrialist Harun-ur-Rashid Khan Monno's daughter Afroza Khan Rita is likely to get party blessings in Manikganj-3.

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was hanged for war crimes in 1971. He was elected several times from Chattogram-7. His wife and son collected nomination forms but none of them appeared for the interview.

Meanwhile, families of late BNP leaders MK Anwar and Khandakar Mahbubuddin Ahmed have not shown any interest in contesting polls.

KM Hemayet Ullah Awrangajeb died in a road crash in 2013. His wife Tahmin Awranga wished to contest in Shariatpur-3.

Late deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddique contested in Naogaon-3.

Former organising secretary Ilias Ali went missing in 2012. He was elected from Sylhet-2. His wife Tahsina Rushdir Luna has been interviewed.

Apart from the aforesaid, several new faces may appear in Chattogram-4 previously won by Syed Wahidul Alam, Natore-1 by Fazlur Rahman Patal, Chandpur-2 by Nurul Huda, and Dhaka-15 by Hamidullah Khan.

Several former lawmakers may not run due to illness. Among them are AKM Mosharraf Hossain of Mymensingh-4, Kabir Hossain of Rajshahi-3, Abdul Mannan of Gazipur-3, Ziaur Rahman Khan of Dhaka-20, Ukil Abdus Sattar of Brahmanbaria- 2 and Hasanuddin Sarkar of Gazipur-2.