Ending all speculation, Jatiya Party has announced that it will run in the general election as it has assurance from different stakeholders that the polls will be free and fair.

JP Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu made the announcement at a press conference at the party chairman's Banani office yesterday.

The declaration came two days after a delegation of JP leaders, loyal to party Chief Patron Raushan Ershad, in a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan raised the concern that their participation in the polls hangs in the balance as party Chairman GM Quader was yet to make the final decision in this regard.

Chunnu yesterday said the party has completed almost all preparations for the January 7 parliamentary polls.

"We have always said that we want an environment of trust which would enable voters to go to the polling stations and cast their ballots freely.

"We have been assured by all the stakeholders concerned, including the Election Commission, that the polls will be free, fair, and acceptable, and the voters will be able to exercise their franchise freely," he said.

Chunnu said the JP chairman trusted the assurance and decided to run in the election.

"On the instructions of the party chairman, I am officially announcing that Jatiya Party will participate in the election."

Responding to a question, the JP secretary general said the party will not join any electoral alliance, and that it will field candidates in all 300 constituencies.

"We will not go for seat-sharing with any other party. We hope that we will be able to put up a strong contest in all 300 constituencies," Chunnu said.

Meanwhile, the JP has sold a total of 1,510 nomination forms over the last three days. The party started selling nomination papers on Monday.

The party earned Tk 4.53 crore from the sales of nomination forms at Tk 30,000 each, Mahmud Alam, joint office secretary of JP, told The Daily Star.

Opposition leader Raushan, her son Rahgir Almahe Ershad and other JP leaders loyal to Raushan were yet to collect nomination papers, said party sources.

The sale of nomination forms will continue till 4:00pm today.

After interviewing the nomination seekers from November 24 to 26, the JP will make public the final list of its nominees on November 27.

Both the ruling Awami League and opposition Jatiya Party said they would win the Rangpur City Corporation election today.

This is the third election since the city corporation was formed in 2012.

As leaders of both parties warned of building strong resistance against irregularities, some expressed concerns over violence during polls. An election commission official on Sunday said violence was likely in one-third of the 229 polling centres.

The AL nominee for mayor is Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia while the JP nominee is Mostafizar Rahman, who was also elected mayor in 2017.

Rangpur is known as a JP stronghold and the Rangpur JP General Secretary SM Yasir is one of the key campaigners for Mostafizar.

"We are ahead in the electoral race. Everything is still in favour of our nominee. We have got assurance from different government agencies that they will act impartially on the day of polling," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

"Large numbers of our partymen will be present near the polling centres. They will resist all sorts of irregularities. No one will be allowed to use muscle power," he added.

On the other hand, Rangpur AL General Secretary Tushar Kanti Mandol, said, "We hope that people will vote for us to continue the government's development programmes.

"We want favour from neither the law enforcers nor from any other government agencies. Our nominee will win, if the election is fair.

"But, we, the Awami League men, will resist chaos and irregularities with iron hands."

The Election Commission on Sunday said there were concerns over violence at 86 of the 229 polling centres.

Additional law enforcers will be deployed at those centres, said Election Commissioner Begum Rashida Sultana.

"We will closely monitor all the centres through CCTV cameras. Voting will be suspended, if any irregularity takes pace. We want fair elections," she told journalists at her office in the capital yesterday.

Members of police, Bangladesh Border Guard, Rab and Armed Police Battalion (APBn) will be deployed to maintain law and order, said EC officials.

Besides, 33 executive magistrates and 16 judicial magistrates will be deployed to take legal actions against rule violators.

The returning officer yesterday directed the election officers to perform their duties with honesty and efficiency.

"Stern action will be taken against those involved in irregularities," said Returning Officer Abdul Baten who will oversee the election.

Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Nurealam Mina directed police to take measures against violence and irregularities.

The authorities distributed election materials to the officials at Rangpur Police Lines yesterday morning.

Voting will be held using electronic voting machines. The polling centres will be covered by CCTV cameras from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

On Sunday, JP nominee Mostafizar said many voters were not familiar with EVMs.

Apart from AL and JP nominees, seven others are running for mayor. AL leader Latifur Rahman is running as an independent.

The BNP boycotted the election.

No major incident of violence or violation of the code of conduct was reported during the 17-day electioneering that ended on Sunday.

Jatiya Party unveiled its nominees for 287 constituencies yesterday.

The JP said it did not get any nomination seekers for a handful of constituencies and party ticket winners for the rest would be announced later.   

It said it left Mymensingh-4 vacant for Leader of the Opposition and JP Chief Patron Raushan Ershad, who is yet to collect her nomination form.

Raushan's son Rahgir Almahe (Saad Ershad) MP and opposition chief whip Moshiur Rahman Ranga also did not collect nomination forms for the January 7 national election.

JP Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu made the list public at a press conference at the JP chairman's Banani office.

The unveiling of the list widened the gap between JP Chairman GM Quader and Raushan, said a number of JP leaders.

Quader is the MP from Lalmonirhat-3. But this time, he will run from Rangpur-3, where Saad Ershad is the incumbent MP.

Rangpur-3 was JP founder HM Ershad's constituency. After his demise, his son Saad Ershad was elected in a by-election.

Quader will also run from Dhaka-17 while his wife Sherifa Quader will take part in the election from Dhaka-18.

HM Shahriar Asif, a relative of Quader, will run from Ranpur-1. Ranga is the incumbent there.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Saad Ershad yesterday said he wanted party ticket for Rangpur-3, but the leaders loyal to the party chairman did not give him the nomination form.

"They [Quader and his followers] actually want to wipe out the names of HM Ershad's family members. You can visit my electoral area and ask the locals how many development works I have implemented there," he said.

A JP leader loyal to Raushan said the opposition leader has sought an appointment with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss the elected-related issues.

"We are now waiting for the prime minister's decision regarding the conflict between Raushan Ershad and GM Quader over nominations," the JP leader told this correspondent wishing anonymity.

Golam Moshi, political secretary to the opposition leader, told The Daily Star last night that they were "forced out of the electoral race" which might lead to another split in the JP.

Asked about not naming any candidate for Mymensingh-4, Chunnu at the press conference said, "Raushan Ershad is the honourable chief patron of our party. Showing respect to her, we have not fielded any candidate for that seat."

About not nominating Saad Ershad, he said the lawmaker did not collect and submit the party's nomination form.

On the issue of Ranga, the JP leader said he was expelled from the party. "How will he get Jatiya Party ticket?"

Regarding the Raushan-Quader conflict, Chunnu said, "If there is any differences between them, it is their family matter. But we don't have any dispute with her in the party."

Although Chunnu said they have named candidates for 289 seats, in fact the figure was found to be 287.

"We have named more than one candidates in some seats due to intra-party conflict in those constituencies," he added.

The JP has named two candidates each in 10 constituencies.

Asked about not nominating Rustum Ali FarajiMP of Pirojpur-3, Chunnu said although he had been involved in the party for long, they now doubt his loyalty.

The main opposition party in parliament has nominated eight women, including Salma Islam (Dhaka-1).

Chunnu said the JP was assured of a free and fair election. "If the election is free and fair, we will have majority in parliament and assume power."