Awami League's decision to not compete for two of the recently vacated seats, rather letting its allies vie for them, is aimed at strengthening its relations with partners ahead of the 12th national election, slated for January 2024.

On the other hand, AL's decision to not give the party symbol to anyone competing in the upcoming Brahmanbaria-2 by-polls is an effort to keep the main opposition, Jatiya Party, in its fold, according to AL insiders.

AL's parliamentary board on Sunday decided to leave two seats -- Thakurgaon-3 and Bogura-4 -- for Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu), respectively.

In the last election held in 2008, AL left Thakurgaon-3 for Workers Party, Bogura-4 for JSD-Inu, and Brahmanbaria-2 for Jatiya Party, but BNP won those seats.

As AL is trying to expand its alliance by taking pro-liberation political forces on board, the party's latest decision is to satisfy its alliance and electoral partners. The ruling party is now working on its relations with its partners, belonging to the 14-party alliance, and has already sat with them several times. It is also closely maintaining relations with Jatiya Party.

The ruling party has decided to contest for three of the six seats that remain vacant since the recent resignation of BNP lawmakers. The election of those six seats will be held on February 1.

On December 11, a day after BNP's rally in Dhaka, seven BNP MPs, one from reserved seat, tendered their resignation letters to the JS speaker as part of their party's anti-government movement. And so, six seats -- Brahmanbaria-2, Thakurgaon-3, Bogura-4, Bogura-6, Chapainawabganj-2 and Chapainawabganj-3 -- were vacated.

Awami League's decision came after Workers Party and JSD wrote letters to the ruling party to sacrifice those two seats for them.

According to insiders, as AL is trying to expand its alliance by taking pro-liberation political forces on board, the party's latest decision is to satisfy its alliance and electoral partners.

The ruling party is now working on its relations with its partners, belonging to the 14-party alliance, and has already sat with them several times. It is also closely maintaining relations with Jatiya Party, said sources.

AL took part in the 2008, 2014 and 2018 elections under the banner of the 14-party alliance, which was treated as AL's ideological alliance. Besides, Jatiya Party was an electoral partner of AL in those elections.

When AL formed the government in 2009, Jatiya Party became the main opposition in the House, while AL ignored its partners. But leaders of the allies were inducted into the government formed in 2009 and 2014, they said.

A gap started forming between partners of the 14-party alliance and Awami League. This gap has widened day by day due to AL ignoring its partners.

This friction was exposed on December 8, when AL convened a meeting with its partners. The ruling party drew heavy flak from its left-leaning allies for ignoring them while taking crucial political decisions and for starting "electioneering" for the next national polls by keeping its partners in the dark.

Leaders of the leftist parties told AL leaders that they are disappointed, as the ruling party does not give them space in the government nor give the alliance much importance.

On the other hand, relations between AL and JP have lately strained, as the former believes JP Chairman GM Quader has reached an understanding with BNP leaders about a simultaneous anti-government movement, sources said.

Things appeared to have soured when several JP leaders started talking about "government misrule" a few months ago and last month. GM Quader said his party does not belong to any alliance with AL.

Under such circumstances, the ruling party started trying to strengthen relations with its partners.

AL President Sheikh Hasina, also the prime minister, held a meeting with two top leaders of Jatiya Party, while top leaders of AL had several meetings with its left-leaning partners.

Talking to the Daily Star, a top leader of Workers Party, wishing anonymity, said, "As Awami League decided to participate in the next election under the banner of the 14-party alliance, the ruling party is trying to satisfy partners and the latest decision shows that."

"We will wage movements and participate in the election together," AL veteran leader Amir Hossain Amu, also coordinator of the 14-party alliance, told The Daily Star.

He brushed aside claims of the widening gap between AL and its partners.

BNP today met the chief election commissioner and demanded restoration of the pre-2008 demarcation of constituencies before the next parliamentary election.

“After 2008, massive changes have been brought in the parliamentary constituencies. We want the next parliamentary polls based on constituencies before 2008,” BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Moshrraf Hossain told The Daily Star. 

A BNP delegation led by Mosharraf met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad to discuss general election-related issues including upgradation of voter list today.

The CEC assured the BNP delegation that he would take necessary measures following the electoral code of conducts in the regard.

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BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Abdul Moyeen Khan, BNP chairperson's adviser Captain (retd) Sujauddin and Senior Joint Secretary Rizvi Ahmed were among the delegation members.

Police have stepped up monitoring of city hotels and messes as they are strictly checking the identities of guests and boarders ahead of Sunday's national election.

The number of guests and boarders came down due to the move which was launched early this month, said staffers of some hotels and messes in Mirpur, Farmgate and East Tejturibazar areas.

Besides, police were also visiting flats and homes in Mirpur area to check the identities of the dwellers, said locals. 

Law enforcers asked landlords to submit tenant information forms to them soon after filling those out.

Police, however, didn't give any specific reason for such a move.

Talking to The Daily Star on Friday, a staff of Royal Grand Hotel in East Tejturibazar said, “We have been seeing a sharp drop in the number of guests since the beginning of this month.” 

Almost all the 60 rooms of the five-storey hotel used to be occupied by guests around the year. But it was having fewer guests since for over two weeks as it refused many who failed to produce proper documents, particularly the national identity (NID) card.

“Since early this month, the number of occupied rooms has come down to between 30 and 35 daily,” said the staff on condition of anonymity.

The hotel staffers and mess managers said as per recent instructions by police, they didn't rent out any room to people without NID cards and other relevant documents.

“Earlier, police were not so strict about the identities of people. So, we used to rent out rooms to customers having no NID cards,” said the manager of another hotel.

He said policemen sat at the reception of hotels, but they didn't raid rooms.

To avoid any trouble, many hoteliers made their inoperative CCTV cameras operative, said another hotel manager. “We are now fully complying with the police instructions.”

A staff of Hotel Green Palace International on Green Road made a similar observation.

Visiting at least four messes in Rajabazar, Green Road and West Karwan Bazar areas, this newspaper found that many boarders were leaving the messes ahead of the election.

One of them is Chowdhury Mess on Green Road which accommodates service holders, businessmen and some students. It has 72 rooms, each having a capacity for five people.

“All the rooms of our mess used to remain occupied around the year. We had to turn down requests of borders for seats,” said Manager Ali Hossain. “Now we have five rooms empty. Some boarders in several other rooms have left.”

He said police visited the mess and searched some rooms since early this month.

A number of Mirpur residents said police recently visited their homes and asked them to submit tenant information forms.

Cops entered flats and homes and wanted to know whether any of the tenants' relatives were staying there, said a tenant of a house in Mirpur Section-10.

Asked about the matter, Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they took different measures ahead of the general election so that no criminal group could commit an offence.

“Drives are underway in the city to arrest criminals and stop criminal activities,” he told The Daily Star.

Azmat Ullah Khan's defeat to a 62-year-old woman with no political background has dealt the Awami League a major blow, sending a message to the ruling party about rifts in its grassroots.

The surprise win of Zaida Khatun, the mother of suspended Gazipur mayor Zahangir Alam, in Gazipur City Corporation election has caught many AL high-ups off guard because the party exerted all its strength to ensure Azmat's victory.

Several central leaders believe Gazipur city election has demonstrated how internal feuds can lead to defeat even in a city known as the party's citadel. They also think the party should spend some time for self-reflection and learn a lesson from this election before moving forward.

AL's election loss in Gazipur, which along with Faridpur and Kishoreganj is known as an AL bastion, also shows the state of the party's popularity just seven months before the national polls.

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AL loses in its bastion

The central leaders think the time has come to focus on the organisation itself and to bring discipline within the party through resolving the feuds before the general election.

The AL formed a 28-member committee of central leaders to coordinate the election campaign in Gazipur. But the committee members had not done enough, allege several leaders.

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3 reasons why Zaida won Gazipur polls

As a political party, the AL is an expert in setting election strategies that work, they say, adding that no other political party can even come close in terms of organising.

But during different elections over the last 14 years, administration officials and law enforcers played a vital role in securing victory for the AL, party insiders say.

That's why the AL leaders took the victory in Gazipur city election for granted and didn't put in much effort.

In October last year, the role of government officials was brought to question by Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman who told a meeting with deputy commissioners and superintendents of police that many officials were not acting impartially while discharging their duties.

Gazipur election result is a fitting answer to AL's overconfidence.

— A central leader of the party

"Gazipur election result is a fitting answer to the party's overconfidence. It assumed an easy victory and failed to keep in mind the people's anti-government and anti-Awami League sentiments," a central leader of the party told The Daily Star, wishing anonymity.

The rifts and feuding groups are present in almost every district committee of the AL, he added.

However, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader at an event yesterday said Gazipur election was free and fair, and it was a victory of democracy.

That the government can hold a free and fair election has been proven, he told a discussion at the AL office on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.

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The message from Gazipur city polls

According to insiders, the AL leadership has been so busy running the government since 2009 that the organisation itself ceased to be a priority.

The AL faced a setback in the 2021 union parishad elections, thanks to internal feuds and disgruntled local leaders running as independents.

But no serious steps were taken to unite the party afterwards, the insiders say.

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Nothing but AL’s pride at stake

In Gazipur, the first mistake the AL leaders made was to assume that the local administration and police would support the ruling party nominee.

Besides, they didn't take Zahangir and his mother seriously enough. They thought the local activists would not maintain their relations with Zahangir after his permanent expulsion from the AL. They also assumed that the local activists would work together for the AL nominee.

But in reality, many grassroots leaders worked for Zaida Khatun in secret, said the sources.

Many AL leaders from Gazipur say that some of the BNP supporters had voted for Zaida while others voted for her simply because of their anti-government sentiments.

After the ruling AL chose Azmat to run for mayor, Zahangir collected nomination papers for himself and his mother to participate in the election as independents. As the Election Commission scrapped his nomination papers, he started campaigning for his mother Zaida.     

In 2013, Zahangir tried to run for mayor but the AL chose Azmat, who ended up losing to BNP's MA Mannan.

Zahangir tried to run as an independent, but quit the race only a few days before that election day. Since the ballot papers could not be changed at the last minute, his electoral symbol remained on them. Eventually, almost 30,000 people voted for him, which according to analysts was a major reason why Azmat lost that election.

Promises of further development work are Awami League contestants' election mantra in Khulna while the BNP candidates are pledging “restoration of democracy”.

BNP aspirants are vocal about freeing party Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail and giving people “respite from the repressive government”.

They have also promised to “save” the state-owned banks.

Sheikh Salauddin Jewel, AL candidate in Khulna-2 (Sadar and Sonadanga), claimed that his party had carried out massive development work in Khulna.

“Just half a month ago, the Khulna modern railway station was opened, meeting a long-time demand of the people of Khulna,” he told this newspaper.

Jewel promised that if elected, the waterlogging problem in the city would be addressed by recovering grabbed canals. He also promised employment opportunities, war on drugs, and construction and renovation of parks.

Akhteruzzaman Babu, AL candidate in Khulna-6 (Paikgacha-Koyra), said, “Development projects will continue if the people vote AL candidates to power.”

He promised that sustainable dykes would be built to prevent river erosion, a major problem faced by the residents of Paikgacha and Koyra.

AL's Abdus Salam Murshedi in Khulna-4 (Rupsha-Terokhada-Dighalia) promised a hanging bridge over the Bhairab river for smooth journeys from upazilas to Khulna city.

Begum Monnujan Sufian, AL contender in Khulna-3 (Khalishpur-Daulatpur-Khan Jahan Ali), assured implementation of wage commission recommendations for over 24,000 people working in the seven state-owned jute mills in Khulna.

BNP candidate in Khulna-2 Nazrul Islam Monju told The Daily Star that his party had been trying for years to establish people's voting rights and get rid of “autocratic rulers”.

He pledged to eliminate corruption and terrorism and recover “Tk 22,000 crore looted from the state-owned banks”.

BNP aspirant in Khulna-3 Rokibul Islam Bokul said if elected, he would develop Khalishpur and Daulatpur industrial zones to create employment opportunities.

He said he wanted to reopen mills and factories in the area that had been shut down, prioritise the IT sector, ensure medical services and develop roads in his area.

“For youths, I will set up free Wifi zones in parks and other crowded places,” he added.

Azizul Bari Helal, BNP contestant in Khulna-4, said his campaign was focused mainly on getting Khaleda released, restoring democracy, and putting an end to the “misrule of the present government”.

Mia Golam Porwar of Khulna-5 said he was seeking votes with the promises to save people from the “repression of the AL” and harassment like filing of false cases and arbitrary arrests.

The BNP candidate is also highlighting success stories of when he was a lawmaker in the constituency.