JP drama on
Jatiya Party leaders yesterday came down heavily on Moshiur Rahman Ranga and Tajul Islam Chowdhury for their "indecent" remarks about party chief HM Ershad.
At a rally in the capital yesterday, the JP leaders went as far as to term the duo "collaborators of BNP-Jamaat and war criminals".
The JP chairman, in a surprise move on Wednesday, relieved party presidium members Ranga and Tajul of their posts, without citing any reason. However, party insiders say, the step was taken for the duo's "unacceptable" comments about Ershad.
Speaking at the rally, JP Secretary General Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu said the collaborators of the BNP-Jamaat and war criminals tried to split the party but they won't succeed as the partymen are united under the leadership of Ershad.
"JP leaders and activists will not accept any other leadership in the party except Ershad," he said.
Ranga holds the local government and rural development portfolio as the state minister while Tajul is the opposition chief whip in parliament.
Following their removal from the highest policymaking body of the JP, the two were about to start a scuffle with Bablu during the Maghrib prayers break at the Jatiya Sangsad lobby on Thursday.
The main opposition JP has been facing a serious conflict after the January 5 polls, centring on its participation in the cabinet and the selection of the deputy opposition leader.
Though Ershad on several occasions said that his party would quit the cabinet, most JP lawmakers including Tajul and Ranga, who are loyal to opposition leader Raushan Ershad, outright rejected the proposition and criticised Ershad for this.
Later in an interview with a private television channel at night, Ranga said he would have resigned from his post if Ershad had asked him to do so.
Terming the decision of his removal unexpected, he said it's the JP chief who had given him the honour and then taken it away.
Rejecting the possibility of changing party, Ranga said he would rather quit politics than join some other organisation.
Meanwhile, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said the JP is now faced with a dilemma. "An octogenarian leader, Ershad will have to undergo an acid test," UNB reports.
Asked if the ruling Awami League played any role in this dilemma, he said the AL enjoys two-thirds majority in parliament that is needed to pass any law.
"So, why would the Awami League take part in the game of splitting the Jatiya Party?" Quader told reporters at the site of an under-construction bridge in Manikganj's Singair.
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