AL to go tough on rebels

The ruling Awami League will soon give guidelines to its grassroots leaders to pick only one candidate in each upazila for the upcoming polls.
Upazila AL unit committees, and presidents and general secretaries of union and ward committees would be asked in a couple of days to choose the contenders on the basis of consensus to avoid dissents in the party, said AL insiders.
The party will warn its grassroots leaders and activists that if anyone contests the polls defying the party decision, he would face tough action, even expulsion from the party, they said.
The central committee wouldn't interfere in the decision-making process, and the grassroots leaders would enjoy full freedom to pick contestants for the upazila parishad election that begins on February 19, according to the sources.
AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told The Daily Star yesterday that the party would send letters to its grassroots leaders, asking them to select a single candidate in every upazila.
At a meeting of the AL central working committee on Saturday, AL President Sheikh Hasina said the party doesn't want to see any rebel candidate in the next upazila parishad election.
The ruling party has taken the election seriously. It thinks a good performance in the polls will help strengthen the party at grassroots level. The party's central leaders would tour the organisational districts in the run-up to the polls, said the sources.
In the last upazila election in 2009, AL candidates emerged victorious in most upazilas. But later, BNP candidates gained the upper hand in the municipality and other local body polls.