All eyes on Barishal, Khulna out of focus
Barishal and Khulna cities go to polls today.
In Barishal, competition will be tough between Awami League mayor nominee Abul Khair Abdullah and Islami Andolon Bangladesh's Mufti Syed Faizul, city dwellers said.
But in Khulna, no one is likely to come close to AL mayoral candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque. However, those running for the post of councillors will face fierce competition, locals said.
Even though the election campaign ended on Saturday, large numbers of ruling AL activists were seen on the streets and some of them were asking people for votes yesterday.
Interestingly, the 18 expelled local BNP leaders running for councillors and several others known as BNP and Jatiya Party men have also been asking people to vote for the AL mayor nominee.
Locals said people of other parties were campaigning for the AL because they wanted to be elected as councillors without crossing the ruling party activists before the polls.
Mortuza Abedin, general secretary of Barishal City JP, who is running for councillor in ward-2, requested people to vote for the AL mayor nominee, they added.
Contacted, Mortuza said no such thing happened.
Locals said expelled BNP leader Shah Aminul Islam from ward-19 also sought vote for "boat", the AL electoral symbol.
Aminul said, "If anyone votes for 'boat', what can I do?"
Nevertheless, internal feud and mistrust among AL supporters remain a concern for the party.
The lack of genuine cooperation from Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah and his father Abul Hasnat Abdullah is worrying the AL camp, said insiders.
There is an allegation that at least 15 of Sadiq's followers, who are councillor aspirants, have worked against AL mayoral candidate Khair.
Khair kept some of his party men, who are followers of Sadiq, out of his campaign trail. His chief election agent Afjalul Karim said, "We don't want to take risks. That is why we did not include certain partymen in our campaign."
Anowar Hossain, vice-president of Barishal City AL known as a follower of Sadiq, said, "We are not given any responsibility in the election, and we do not know how it is taking place."
Even though Islami Andolon Bangladesh (IAB) mayoral candidate Mufti Syed Faizul's campaign was less vibrant than the AL candidate's, ruling party leaders fear that a large number of BNP and Jamaat supporters will vote for Faizul.
Activists from different parties say around 1 lakh of the city's 2.76 lakh voters are supporters of the BNP and Jamaat.
Requesting anonymity, a ruling party councillor candidate, who is a close aide to Khair, said, "Everyone appears to be working for the Awami League. But who knows what will happen during the polls."
Meanwhile, JP mayoral candidate Iqbal Hossain Tapos yesterday alleged that the AL has made "extensive preparations to steal votes".
IAB's Faizul also alleged that the AL intended to occupy all the 126 polling centres.
Khair said, "These allegations are baseless."
In Khulna, multiple councillor candidates from the ruling party are competing against each other in several wards. Some BNP and Jamaat leaders are also vying for councillor posts as independents.
Three influential local AL leaders -- Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Mina, and Moniruzzaman Khan Khokon -- are running for the councillor post in ward-1.
In ward-4, there will be tough competition between BNP leader Kabir Hossain Kabu Mollah, Jamaat leader Ashraf Hossain, and Swechchhasebak League leader Golam Rabbani.
The situation is similar in at least 26 of the 31 wards, said locals.
Qudrat E Khuda, president of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan) in Khulna, said there were chances of violence because of competition among aspirants from the same party.
Returning Officer Mohammad Alauddin yesterday said, "The Election Commission and law enforcement agencies are working to ensure that voters can vote peacefully."
[Mohammad Jamil Khan, Sushanta Ghosh, Md Abbas, Ashik Abdullah Apu and Sajjad Hossain contributed to the report]
Comments