SC lawyers fight it out in ballots

With clean personality and family glory of Bangabandhu, Awami League-led grand alliance's Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh is ready for a tough battle with BNP's previous lawmaker Khandaker Mahabub Uddin Ahmed in Dhaka-12 constituency.
Voters in the area said although eight candidates are contesting from the seat in the December 29 parliamentary election, the main fight would be between the two lawyers--one experienced and the other fresh--who hail from Gopalganj.
Dhaka-12 consists of Dhanmondi residential area, Hazaribagh tannery area, New Market, Kalabagan, Jigatola and Green Road areas with 2,60,859 voters of which 1,14,844 are women. In the last election these areas were under Dhaka-9 along with areas under Mohammadpur Police Station.
Taposh is the son of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's nephew Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni who was assassinated on August 15, 1975 along with Bangabandhu and his family. Taposh is one of the lawyers who represented AL President Sheikh Hasina in many cases.
Talking to The Daily Star Khorshed Alam, a middle-aged voter in the constituency, said, "Taposh has a clean personality and he is young, which would give him more advantage. Being a member of Bangabandhu's family will also help him."
BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mahabub, who won the last election from the constituency by a big margin of 28,954 votes against AL candidate Makbul Hossain, will face strong challenges from Taposh this time, he said.
Both Mahbub and Taposh are pledging to take steps to end one of the main problems in the Rayerbazar and surrounding areas--drug dealing.
Many voters told The Daily Star that being young himself, Taposh would attract a large number of new voters.
Hasif Mahmud Sourav, a resident of Madhubazar area, said, "A large number of young voters will vote for Taposh, who is also a little ahead in terms of campaigning."
A few, however, differed with the view, saying Mahbub won the last time with a big margin and Taposh will have to cut that lead first to win, which would be tough for a young candidate like him.
Dhanmondi resident Md Mohsin thinks both have equal chance of winning.
"Mahbub was the last elected MP from the area. He did not help anyone in the area but did not harm anyone either. Taposh, as a younger and fresh candidate, will have to campaign hard to cut the lead of the big margin by which Mahbub had won last time," he said.
"The area has been free from crime during the past two years and whoever gets elected we want this situation to prevail," Mohsin said.
Abul Khair, a middle-aged voter and resident of Shankar area, said, "Taposh is a young candidate and looks good as an emerging leader. I think he should be given a chance.”