Jatiya Party Central Committee Vice President and local lawmaker Shawkat Chowdhury has allegedly been directing his followers to campaign for his rival BNP candidate Amzad Hossain Sarker ever since his nomination for Nilphamari-4 was cancelled.

Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, JP member and Shawkat's torch-bearer Md Rezaul Haque Filip said, “We are now working for the 'sheaf of paddy' according to our leader Shawkat's directives.”

He added that even though Shawkat had a strong base in the area and maintained close contact with the voters and party activists, he was deprived of the nomination. The party high-ups instead gave the nomination to JP Chief HM Ershad's nephew Adilur Rahman Adil, who is “quite unknown to voters and had made no contribution to the party”.

However, when asked about giving such directives, Shawkat said, “I have nothing to do if my followers choose to campaign for the 'sheaf of paddy' symbol. Everybody has the right to make their own decision.”

“I no longer want to continue politics with cheats and liars,” he said, hinting at JP's high command.

Earlier Shawkat was involved with BNP politics but left the party following a feud with Md Amzad Hossain over the post of upazila unit secretary. He joined JP prior to the 10th parliamentary election in 2014. Later, he was elected uncontested as a lawmaker and became a whip in parliament. He was also made vice president of JP's central committee.

Shawkat had earlier drawn attention of journalists when he openly alleged that Ershad and then JP Secretary General Ruhul Amin Hawlader extracted money from him a number of times.