Councillor Aspirants
Troubles different
BNP rebel-free but not in scene; AL full of rebels, faces campaign chaos
With just a week to go in election campaigns of the polls to city corporations, the Awami League and the BNP are still struggling to get all their ducks in a row.
The AL high command, despite hectic efforts, could not convince all AL leaders to quit running against party-endorsed councillor candidates.
In most wards of the three city corporations -- two in Dhaka and one in Chittagong -- AL-backed councillor aspirants would face challenges from AL's own.
The party keeps issuing note of caution against those leaders who refused to back down, but they don't seem to budge.
However, the BNP camp does not have this issue but has another. The party's senior- and mid-level leaders are yet to join the campaign for the party-backed mayor aspirants in the two city corporations in Dhaka.
The party leaders alleged that those BNP leaders refrain from campaigning to avoid getting arrested and harassed.
Many BNP-backed councillor aspirants have also had cases filed against them in the last three years.
The entire situation has annoyed BNP chief Khaleda Zia. She on Friday night rebuked some of her party seniors when they went to meet her, sources added.
"Police and ruling-party men are harassing and obstructing our party men from campaigning," claimed BNP senior leader Moudud Ahmed while talking to The Daily Star yesterday.
A senior BNP leader on condition of anonymity said the party leaders apprehend that their grassroots might face difficulties in going to polling centres on election day, April 28.
Under such a situation, Khaleda yesterday campaigned for BNP-blessed mayor candidate Tabith Awal in Gulshan to also convince party leaders in joining the campaign.
Things are better for the BNP in Chittagong though. Some senior leaders, including Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Abdullah Al Noman, had been electioneering for the BNP-endorsed mayor and councillor aspirants since the beginning.
No BNP leader is challenging the party favourite in any of the wards in Chittagong.
AL REBELS
Around 100 AL leaders are still in the race for 93 councillor posts of the two city corporations in Dhaka even though they have not been blessed by their party. There are 36 wards in Dhaka north and 57 wards under Dhaka south.
According to an AL estimate, around 60 unendorsed AL leaders in Dhaka South City Corporation and 40 in Dhaka North City Corporation are still running.
The party had got around 200 councillor aspirants to withdraw in Dhaka and around 24 in Chittagong.
"We are still trying to ensure a single candidate in each ward but there are several candidates in many wards. We also managed many rebels to support party-backed candidates," said AL Agriculture Affairs secretary Abdur Razzak, also chief of AL election coordinating committee for Dhaka south.
He said the “rebels” would have to face tough organisational action.
Party International Affair Secretary Faruk Khan, chief of AL election coordinating committee for Dhaka north, told The Daily Star that several unendorsed councillor candidates are still running in 50 percent of the wards.
The AL was trying to convince them to support the party-sponsored candidates.
AL central committee member Aminul Islam Amin, also member of AL election coordinating committee for Chittagong City polls, told the Daily Star that several unendorsed candidates were campaigning in at least 60 percent of the wards.