After suffering defeats in the last two national elections to independent candidate Mujibur Rahman Chowhdury, alias Nixon Chowdhury, Kazi Zafarullah is in a "tight spot" this time as well in Faridpur-4 constituency.

His campaign seems lacklustre compared to that of Nixon. Most of the public representatives at the local level are loyal to Nixon.

Of the total 24 union parishads -- Bhanga, Sadarpur, Charbhadrasan -- that falls in the constituency, 20 chairmen, who contested the last UP election as  independents against AL picks, are followers of Nixon.

While visiting different areas of the constituency, posters, banners and election camps of Nixon were seen in larger numbers than that of Zafarullah.

As per locals, Nixon's main strength is the youth and floating voters while the relatively older ones are rallying behind Zafarullah.

They said Nixon always remained connected with the youth and had carried out developments in the constituency which made him "popular".

Talking to The Daily Star, Mostafizur, a tea stall vendor in Sadarapur area, said, "The elderly are working in favour of the Awami League candidate, they are dedicated to the party irrespective of whoever it picks."

Also, many of the voters in Faridpur-4 constituency said  the voting of 22 centres adjacent to Shibchar upazila of Madaripur will be a big factor in the election.

In the last two elections, Nixon got majority of votes in these 22 centres located in Shibchar, the ancestral home of Nixon.

AL DIVIDED

Zafar is the presidium member of the AL while Nixon holds the post of presidium member in AL's youth wing Jubo League.

Though there has been no major incident of violence in this constituency since the election campaign started, the atmosphere occasionally heats up due to the ongoing war of words between Nixon and Zafarullah, where they exchange verbal attacks and make various allegations against each other.

Zafarullah accused Nixon of occupying khas land, extortion, and illegal sand extraction, as well as providing false information in the election affidavit. On Saturday, he lodged a complaint with the returning officer, urging the cancellation of Nixon's candidacy for allegedly distributing cash among voters.

Meanwhile, Nixon claimed that Zafar received commissions from a fertiliser factory and engaged in money laundering.

BNP SUPPORTERS, ZAKER PARTY BACKING NIXON

The activists and supporters of the BNP, are rallying behind Nixon.

Abul Kalam Shamsuddin, a retired government employee, is a BNP supporter. Since the BNP is boycotting the polls, he decided to extend support for Nixon.

Besides, Zaker Party, a group formed in Sadarpur,  and an ally of AL, officially announced its support for Nixon on December 20.

According to the Election Commission, the total number of voters in this seat is 4,61845.

Nixon secured 98,300 votes in 2014 and 144,000 votes in 2018, while Zafarullah received 72,248 votes in 2014 and 94,234 votes in 2018.