Although the BNP has decided not to join the upcoming upazila polls as a political party, many party leaders are in favour of allowing its leaders and activists to contest the elections as independent candidates.

The party may allow individuals to run for the race as it would help boost the party's grassroots morale and speed up the organisational activities, said party insiders.

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First phase of upazila polls on May 8: EC

"We will not join the polls as a party, but many of us believe that grassroots leaders should be allowed to take part in the elections. As the polls will be held at the local level, BNP's presence is very important for its future protest programmes," said a standing committee member, wishing not to be named.

The BNP has been staying away from all polls since 2019 and the party expelled its leaders who contested elections going against the party's decision. The party even boycotted the January 7 election, stating that a free and fair election is not possible under the incumbent government.

A senior leader of the party said they will try to convince the party activists not to participate in the polls, but if anyone joins, they will not be expelled.

He added that to hold the public support at the local level, the party should go soft on those who will stand for elections.

The Awami League already decided that it would not permit its leaders to use its electoral symbol -- "boat" -- in the upazila elections.

BNP leaders said there was no scope of joining the polls as a political party as it would give the ruling AL a weapon to say that the BNP has made a blunder by boycotting the January 7 polls.

They said the AL has taken the strategy of not giving nomination to any candidate for two considerations. One is to bring the BNP into the election, thereby allowing the AL to say that the BNP made a wrong decision by boycotting the national polls. The other consideration is that the BNP candidates participating in the polls may end up winning in only a few upazilas, but not being successful in most, which would give the ruling party a chance to show that BNP's popularity no longer exists.

The issue of the upazila election was discussed in the BNP's last standing committee meeting on Sunday where leaders gave different opinions.

One group said the party should not take part in the polls and should not allow its leaders to contest the elections as independents.

Those leaders said if the party boycotts the election, it will lose its festive atmosphere and it would be an intra-party election as the contenders will be only from the ruling party.

The other group said the party should not join the polls, but if any leaders take part as independents, they should not be barred. 

They added that turnout in the local government elections is always high as upazila chairman and vice-chairman candidates usually maintain regular contacts with locals.

Besides, people also consider many local issues in the local government polls and for this, the BNP will find it difficult to keep people away from casting votes, they opined.

The first phase of the upazila polls will be conducted on May 8.

As the 12th National Parliamentary Election is only a few days ahead, aspirants are going above and beyond with their promotional activities to showcase what they can bring to the table. While every alleyway, street and locality has been adorned with posters, the most impressive promotion of this election is perhaps the innovative and catchy songs that are being played at political stalls, through mikes, moving vans and rickshaws.

One of the most popular songs in this category is "Joy Bangla, Jitbe Abar Nouka", voiced by GM Ashraf and others. The timely and catchy lyrics, tonality and energy that the song ensues made it an instant hit in the 2018 parliamentary election, and it resurfaces with all its old glory with its new version released in November.

The producer of the song, Towhid Hossain, said in an interview they did not think that this song would become this successful, they wanted to make a song that would resonate with the youth of the country. "I and my team tried to create something that not only be promotional but will engage and mobilise people, mostly the younger generation, that's all."

"The song became so popular that even Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met us and praised it. It's an achievement in itself. We added the new success stories, such as the inauguration of Metro Rail, Padma Multipurpose Bridge and Sheikh Hasina's leadership in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, to the song to make it even more relevant," said Towhid.

While the aforementioned song got over on its quality itself, many others have used the Internet to become viral, as did the eccentric rap song by Nadif Sani, "Manik Bhai er Salam Nin, Guys Be Careful", to promote politician Hasibur Rahman Manik. Nadif, an Old Dhaka resident, became the talk of the town when various videos became subject to memes on the Internet. The singer has gone on to make various renditions of this song.

The same happened to "Daisy Apar Salam Nin", meant to promote Awami League-backed Aleya Sarwar Daisy, which became an instant hit after its initial release. The rap song, made by an artiste named Qpid, is comprised of the lyrics "Daisy Apa'r Dui Noyon, 31 er Unnoyon", which instantly resonated with the people. Meme-makers on Facebook had a field day with the video.

On a more serious note, this election's top picks will be one of Bangladesh Awami League's theme songs, "Ekti Doler Jonno", composed and arranged by Pavel Areen and sung by Pantha Kanai, Chandana Mojumdar, Dilshad Nahar Kona, and Masha Islam, amongst others. Another is "Amra Joy Banglar Louk", composed by Emon Chowdhury.

Other popular songs include "Noukar Pale Legeche Hawa", "Teknaf Theke Tetulia", "Bar Bar Dorkar Sheikh Hasinar Sorkar", "Sheikh Hasinar Sarker Barbar Dorkar", "Khela Hobe", which are making waves across the country with AL followers flaunting their dance moves and support in poster-filled caravans.

Prominent singer Momotaz is probably having the most effective campaign as she is utilising her musical talents with prose to mobilise the people in her Manikganj-02 constituency. She has been seen readily making new songs and singing them at her electoral campaigns across the region. She also sang in Pritom Hasan's composition "Amra Nouka Chalai Re" and other favourites, such as "Sob Netar Chaite Amar Sheikh Hasinai Bhala", which are also being used in her and several others' campaigns. Emon Chowdhury makes yet another return to this list with "Amra Achhi Mathe".

Followers of popular politician, Sheikh Tonmoy of Bagerhat-02 constituency are using "Tonmoy Bhaike Vote Dile Hobe Unnoyon",  Mahiya Mahi's Rajshahi-1 constituency "MP Nayika Mahire Truck Markai Ekta Vote Diye Ja" adapted from the famous Fifa World Cup'18 theme song "Ale Ale", Ferdous Ahmed's Dhaka-10 constituency "Sheikh Hasinar Nayok Ferdous Jitbe Re", former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan's "Kamal Bhai Er Hobe Joy" and politician Momin Munzil's followers are using "Momin Munzil Bhai Abar Nouka Paiyachhe", inspired from a puthi song, to further their campaigns.

Songs like "Bolo Heiya", "Truck Markai Vote Chai", and "Jonotar Prarthi Kamarul Bhai", amongst others, are being played loudly through rickshaws, vans and in campaign stalls around Dhaka-06 constituency.

Although Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is not participating in the upcoming elections, followers of the party have not backed down from showing their love to the party by playing,  "Khaleda Zia Jindabad", Baby Naznin's "Gonotontrer Maa Khaleda Zia" and Asif Akbar's "Jonmo Tomar Juddhe Jawar" and "Jailer Bhetor Maa Ke Ar Thakte Debo Na", in a relatively more subdued manner.

A notable trend within these songs is the fact that they are often based on other popular songs, and these templates are reused constantly. Politicians often depend on local sound mixing studios to make their own songs from a varied number of previously recorded templates. The Daily Star spoke to one of these studios, Kallyanpur's Komol Media. "We provide these services at every election, from national to regional. Our songs get used across the country over the years," said the owner, Masum Rana.

"Most of our customers want modified versions of the old with their names and electoral symbols, as those are the most familiar and relevant to the voters, and also less costly. We also make new songs, but we take one or two days for that, and in that case, we charge extra," said Masum.

He informed that as they have their singers and sound designers ready during the election time, they only need 20 minutes and around Tk 2,000 to Tk 5,000 per song, based on the requirements of their clients. "Once the song is ready, we provide the song via a pen drive or links so that they can play them in any medium they want. We also upload it to our YouTube channel to attract clients," he added.

Masum Rana also adds this practice has been going on for years, and he has never faced any hurdles or problems from the concerned authority ever regarding copyrights.

Speaking to followers in several stalls across the Farmgate and Panthapath area of the capital, The Daily Star found that the followers mostly played these songs from YouTube, and downloaded files provided by the senior members of the concerned political leader. In the case of soundbox-laden rickshaws, or vans, they operate as per day allowances in their respective locality.

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The Copyright Act 2000 and Copyright Rules 2006 in Bangladesh provide legal protection for musical work. A musician's copyright is seen as being just as valuable as an author's right in legalese. Nonetheless, in terms of these political songs, no consequence has been noted whenever they lift the tune or music from a preexisting popular song.

As the 2024 parliamentary elections are just around the corner, expect to be hearing more creative, catchy and sometimes obnoxious songs around your locality. However, there are some real musical gems hidden everywhere, even in songs used as political tools. 
 

Since the Awami League's fourth consecutive victory in what appeared to be an essentially one-sided election, much of the discussion has centred on the future trajectory of politics and the potential impact on business and the economy. A crucial institution—the Election Commission (EC)—should not skip a closer scrutiny of its role in staging the election, which allowed the ruling party to manipulate the system adeptly and walk away unchallenged. During an event on January 18, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal, without taking any responsibility, finally acknowledged that people's confidence in the electoral system has declined.

The CEC's realisations that the election was not sufficiently participatory and that "the crisis still remains as the polls (have) not been acceptable to some parties" make us wonder how he could still claim that "the nation could overcome a crisis through this election"? His remarks at the thanks-giving event at the commission indicate that they are struggling to reconcile with the facts that the election they conducted fell far short of the threshold of a democratic exercise. Putting together his admission of "not participatory enough" with his previous assertion that if one percent vote was cast, the polls would get legality but not legitimacy, one can easily deduce that this election's legitimacy is in question.

The EC's attempts to portray the election as participatory and fair seem to have been more focused on appearance than on genuine efforts to achieve these goals. For instance, sending an invitation letter to the deserted and locked BNP office—instead of ensuring an enabling environment—appeared to be a mere public relations stunt. The cancellation of one sitting MP's candidature for violating electoral code served as a diversion from the EC's inaction in numerous other violations.

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‘A setback for US-Bangladesh relations’

The Transparency International Bangladesh's (TIB) 12th National Parliament Election Process Tracking report, published last week, sheds light on the EC's failures. One of the most crucial observations by TIB is, "The Election Commission, sometimes by compulsion in the name of Constitutional and legal compulsion and on occasions by design, played the role of a key catalyst for the realization of the agenda of the one-sided election. Other state institutions, especially law enforcement agencies and administration were also used to play, or played the same role in similar ways." The report outlines the EC's failures throughout the pre-election phase, the campaign phase, and the actual election period. The pre-election phase included voter registration, redrawing of constituencies, registration of new political parties, making changes in the Representation of the People Order (RPO), holding dialogue as part of its confidence-building exercise, registrations of local and foreign observers, role of political parties, schedule announcement, and submission of nominations and scrutinisation of their validity. Unfortunately, each of those acts stoked new controversies and raised questions about the EC's mandated neutrality and independence. Its handling of observers—international observers, in particular—is a pretty shocking example of its complicity with the government. It has allowed fake foreign observers despite our earlier warnings about it and reminders of instances during the 2018 election.

Though ministers have lambasted TIB by comparing it as a front of the opposition BNP, its research on 50 constituencies, spread throughout eight divisions and 41 districts, is quite extensive and covers all kinds of irregularities and violations of electoral rules and code of conduct. The findings, which align with reports from national and international media, challenge the credibility of the election.

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The guilt that comes with voting at a farcical election

It's not only the mainstream media. Social media platforms, too, are awash with videos exposing irregularities, including ballot stuffing, children casting votes, creation of fake queues in the presence of foreign media and observers, and polling agents being forced out. This evidence further underscores the need for a thorough examination of the EC's role. Had the EC installed CCTV cameras at the polling stations instead of spending so much energy on its electronic voting machine (EVM) project, which was eventually abandoned due to a lack of funding, it could have managed the polls a little better. As statements made by losing nominees of the ruling Awami League and its allies, including some top politicians, also supplemented TIBs findings, one might wonder whether Obaidul Quader would call them BNP spokespersons as well.

In the absence of real competition and given the opposition's boycott, both the ruling party and the EC focused their attention on ensuring at least 50 percent voter turnout. The sudden and mysterious rise of turnout figures in the last hour of election day, which otherwise seems improbable, raised strong suspicion that it was yet another act by the EC to assist the ruling party to make the election appear reasonably participatory.

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A review of the 2024 electoral drama

With election expert groups from the European Union and the IRI-NDI of the United States seeking access to detailed data on voter turnout, questions surrounding the credibility of the election persist. Despite its promise to give a turnout figure every two hours on the polling day through its Smart Election Management app, which had cost a staggering Tk 21 crore, the EC failed miserably. Later, CEC Awal was quoted by some media saying that he heard the app had been hacked. It sounds like a very convenient coincidence that further complicates the mystery of a sudden spike in voting figures.

The Election Commission is reportedly taking an initiative to have an upazila election in March. When the chief of this constitutional body admits that people's confidence in the country's electoral process has decreased, moving ahead with another nationwide election without addressing the deep-rooted issues with the last would invite more questions. Without a national dialogue to establish an acceptable election management mechanism, these elections may only strengthen the ruling party's grip over the local government structure.

Kamal Ahmed is an independent journalist. His X handle is @ahmedka1

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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