Three BNP leaders were allegedly picked up by law enforcers from Jashore-Magura highway when they were going to campaign for the BNP candidate of Jashore-3 constituency this morning.

The three leaders are Golam Reza Dulu, BNP vice-president of district unit; Nurunnabi, BNP president of Sadar upazila unit; and Kamal Hossain Babu, Jubo Dal president of Fatehpur upazila.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The BNP candidate for Jashore-3 constituency, Anindya Islam Amit, and the three other BNP leaders were on their way for campaigning.

Their vehicle was intercepted with a truck after it passed Panchbaria area on the highway, Amit told The Daily Star.

Law enforcers got off the truck around 10:45am and detained the three leaders, Amit said.

He claimed that members of both Rapid Action Battalion and Police were among the team members.

The Jatiya Oikyafront candidates in the six constituencies of Khulna are heavily depending on female activists for their campaigns as most of the men are either on the run or under cover fearing police.

Male leaders and activists are seldom seen campaigning. They remain silent or in hiding to avoid police harassment, locals said, adding that using female activists in the campaigns is a strategy of the alliance.

Jamaat leaders have been nominated by the Jatiya Oikyafront in two constituencies of Khulna.

More than half the constituents in Khulna are women and it makes sense to deploy female activists, BNP leaders said.

Meanwhile, the Awami League campaign has gathered significant momentum. Alongside the nominees, AL leaders and activists are campaigning. Women leaders and activists are also seeking votes going door to door.

In the BNP tent, Principal Tarikul Islam, joint-secretary of city BNP, said, “Male activists are engaged in hanging posters and outdoor activities. So, we wanted to involve women in the campaigns more.”

“It should not be considered as our strategy. It is the reality,” said the BNP leader.

Azizul Bari Helal, the BNP nominee in Khulna-4 (Rupsha, Terakhada, Digholia), said AL activists were attacking BNP leaders and activists campaigning for him and they were also facing police harassment.

He alleged that female AL activists were visiting the homes of women who got benefit under VGF and VGD programmes.

BNP activist Zorina Khatun said, “Our male members are on the run to avoid police harassment. They cannot run their businesses and are even forced to shut their business establishments. We are campaigning to get out of this anarchy.”

The 23-year-old along with similarly aged Tanzila sheikh were distributing leaflets of Rokibul Islam Bokul, the BNP candidate for Khulna-3 (Khalishpur, Daulatpur and Khanjahan Ali), at Boikali in the morning after dropping off their children at school.

Clad in burqas, their faces were covered and they were wearing gloves. Several other women were accompanying them.

“Bokul is my brother of the neighbourhood. So, I am distributing leaflets for him,” she said.

Tanzila alleged that the AL did not give the BNP and other political parties any space for political activities. “Is the country only for the AL?” she asked.

On Friday night, these correspondents visited WAPDA Slum in Rupsha Stand Road and talked to 10 women voters who said female  activists were visiting their home every day.

Around two weeks before the national polls, the Awami League-led alliance candidates are dominating the electioneering scene in cities, district towns and even villages while the picture is quite the opposite for the contestants of the BNP-led alliance.

Against the backdrop of numerous incidents of electoral violence in the last week, which left two dead and over 200 injured, the election atmosphere has become subdued.

Over a hundred places experienced such violent clashes between supporters of BNP and AL. An uneasy calm prevails in cities and district towns as many have kept themselves away from campaigning, according to reports of our district correspondents. The situation in the capital is no exception as it too saw such violence.

Meanwhile, the opposition party men are campaigning on a limited scale for what they claimed was to avoid arrests and harassment by police and attacks by political opponents.

On the other hand, AL supporters and party men set up election offices and decorated campaign gates in their respective constituencies with songs blaring out of loudspeakers.

The ruling party candidates have hit the campaign trail in the capital by making door-to-door visits, bringing out processions, holding meetings and distributing leaflets. Their posters cover most of the capital's streets.

However, an insignificant number of posters of the BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront candidates were found in a few places. The BNP leaders alleged that they were not electioneering to avoid arrests as law enforcing agencies were continuing arrests and filing cases against the party men.

"BNP activists are being arrested every day. Even today, three of my party men were arrested when they were hanging posters. How could we conduct the campaigning?" said Saiful Alam Nirob, a contender for Dhaka-12.

He alleged that police were raiding houses of BNP leaders and activists, forcing many of their party men to remain on the run.

A few BNP candidates, including Mirza Abbas, Afroza Abbas and Salauddin Ahmed, however, are conducting electioneering in full throttle in the capital.

But voters in the capital said they were yet to see the election fever.

"The election of 2014 was an exception; but during the previous elections, we saw our locality used to be covered with posters of all candidates -- be it of the ruling party or the opposition. But that was missing this year," said 60-year old Hamidul Islam, a resident of West Jatrabari.

The second week of campaigning starts today with the candidates and their respective parties expected to gear up for their electoral campaign in the next few days.

After the first round of campaigning, AL President Sheikh Hasina will hold rallies in Sylhet, Dhaka and Rangpur between December 21 and December 24 to drum up public support for the party candidates.

Hasina will address a rally in the city's Gulshan area on December 21, said Biplob Barua, assistant office secretary of AL.

Then, she will visit two shrines in Sylhet on December 22 and also attend a rally, he added.

On December 23, she will visit Pirganj and Taraganj in Rangpur and hold rallies there. The AL president will address another rally the next day in Kamrangirchar of Dhaka.

Jatiya Oikyafront, an opposition alliance consisting of BNP and several other parties, will start holding public rallies at Cumilla, Feni, Laksham and Noakhali on December 19.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said, "No evil force can foil the upcoming election.

"We will continue working so that we can ensure good governance," he said after paying homage at the Shaheed Muktijuddha Mausoleum in Feni.

Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury, general secretary of Sylhet district unit of AL, said that the electioneering was going on full pace and the candidates were campaigning according to the permitted way.

However, BNP candidate from Sylhet-1 Khandakar Abdul Muktadir alleged that the leaders of the party were being harassed and threatened everyday and their posters were being ripped off.

"Police are raiding our leaders' and activists' houses every night, threatening them and misbehaving with their family members since the schedule of the election has been declared," he said at a press briefing yesterday.

Contacted, noted writer and columnist Syed Manzoorul Islam found both positive and negative sides in the first week of electioneering.

"The positive sign is that violence did not erupt in a large scale and that young voters are discussing politics in social media. But the negative sides are attacks on candidates," said Manzoorul, a retired professor of Dhaka University.

Regrettably, the Election Commission is yet to take any strong step against the violent activities, he said.