National issues come into play

To win over voters in the upazila elections, the BNP is highlighting critical national issues that have rattled the Awami League government over the past five years.
In their campaigns, local BNP leaders and the party-backed candidates are focusing on the one-sided January 5 polls, graft allegations against some AL ministers and MPs, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and the scams over Padma bridge project, sharemarket and Hall-Mark loans.
Local issues such as violence, tender manipulation and anomalies by the ruling party's unruly men in social safety net programmes are also being brought up but to a limited extent.
In efforts to counter the BNP, the AL men are projecting government successes, particularly the war crimes trials and improvement in education, health and communications sectors.
The AL campaigns are also reminding people of mindless violence unleashed by BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men at the end of last year in the name of anti-government agitations.
The Daily Star yesterday talked over the phone with more than 15 district and upazila level-leaders of AL and BNP to know their strategy for the second phase upazila parishad polls scheduled for February 27. This time 117 upazilas will go to polls.
Both the parties adopted similar strategies in the polls in 97 upazila parishads held on Wednesday.

"Anti-government sentiment among the people is extreme due to its failures. So we are trying to use it in our favour to win the polls," said Mukur Chowdhury, general secretary of Dinajpur district BNP.  
In Dinajpur, four upazilas will go to polls on February 27. And in the first phase, polls to two upazilas were held on Wednesday.    
Echoing the views of Mukur, Saifur Rahman Rana, general secretary of Kurigram district BNP, said they were not giving much importance on local issues in their electioneering.  
"There are some local issues, but we all know that it is the central government which ultimately addresses those," he added.  
Ayubur Rahman Shah and Mozammel Haq Prodhan, presidents of AL units of Chirirbandar and Nageshwari upazilas of Dinajpur and Kurigram respectively, said they were reaching out to people with the government's success stories.
"The prime minister from her cabinet has dropped the controversial figures following graft allegations. So the present government stands against corruption. This is how we are countering the opposition's smear campaign against us," said Mozammel.  
Narayan Chandra Chanda, president of Dumuria upazila AL in Khulna, said the candidates and their supporters are asking the electorate not to forget very recent destructive acts of BNP and Jamaat.
"The destructive acts like burning public transports, felling thousands of trees, uprooting railway sleepers and so on did not bring any good to people. Do they [voters] want to see the perpetrators as their representatives? This is what our men are asking voters," he said.
In Khulna, BNP leaders and activists are trying to woo voters by raising two issues -- corruption and the controversial January 5 parliamentary elections.
“People in southern part are blaming the government's corruption for not being able to construct the Padma bridge which, if completed, would have ensured smooth and faster communications with the capital,” said Shafiqul Alam Mona, general secretary of Khulna city BNP.
"So people are annoyed and we are trying to cash in on it."
Besides, he said, they are telling people that the government came to power again “forcefully” through the January 5 farcical election.  “People are responding positively to our campaigns.”
But most of the AL grassroots are telling voters that the AL is now in power and the upazilas will see more developments if the AL-backed candidates are elected.
"Development will be hampered if candidates backed by other parties get elected in the polls," said Moslem Uddin Ahmed, president of Chittagong district (south) AL unit.
Some local AL leaders, however, claimed people in rural areas do not consider national issues in the local government polls.
Contacted, local government expert Prof Tofail Ahmed said the national issues get importance more in the electioneering as both the AL and BNP high-commands make desperate efforts to secure win of their favourites.
He believes this is not good for the local government.