Chittagong City unit of Awami League and its associated bodies have apparently divided into pro- and anti-Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury factions, creating unrest in the ruling party politics there.
The port city's politics heated up after Mohiuddin, who is the City Corporation mayor and Chittagong City unit AL president, held a meeting with BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury a day after Eid. The meeting was apparently held to put a prospective CCC mayoral candidate of BNP in difficulty.
Protesting the mayor's meeting with the controversial BNP leader, party men loyal to AL lawmaker Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury Babu attacked a public meeting of Mohiuddin at Puratan Bridgeghata of Charpathar Ghata in Chittagong Friday afternoon.
AL leaders and activists loyal to the mayor while talking to The Daily Star have even mentioned taking revenge for the attack.
Meanwhile, a section of leaders and workers of AL and its associated bodies yesterday demanded immediate expulsion of Mohiuddin, the three time mayor, from the party for, what they describe as holding a meeting with a "war criminal".
"The party president must expel him [Mohiuddin] to save the party and politics in Chittagong," said Nurul Islam MP for Chittagong-8 constituency claiming that all the lawmakers of Chittagong want punishment of the mayor.
Talking to The Daily Star he said the CCC mayor has been using the AL for his personal agenda for a long time and it must be stopped.
Sources said the division in Chittagong AL has developed over who would be the AL -backed candidate in the next CCC mayoral election next year.
A section of AL leaders and lawmakers want the party to nominate anyone other than Mohiuddin, sources said, adding that the mayor held the meeting with the BNP leader to put BNP's prospective CCC mayor candidate Abdullah Al Noman, who is also an archrival of SQ Chowdhury, in a difficult position.
Mohiuddin would be the next mayor candidate, said a leader loyal to him, preferring not to be quoted. He said the anti-Mohiuddin faction of AL has been spreading propaganda to tarnish the image of the mayor as they want the AL-back mayoral candidacy.
Nurul Islam said they do not want Mohiuddin anymore as the mayor candidate even though the mayor has already declared himself as the AL-backed candidate for the next CCC elections.
Talking to The Daily Star AL lawmaker and Chittagong District (north) President Eng Mosharraf Hossain said it was not proper on the part of the mayor to hold a two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting with a "war criminal". He said, "It is time we sat urgently to decide on the matter."