Intra-party feuds annoy Khaleque, Mony

Internal feuding within the Awami League and the BNP has put the mayoral candidates from the two rival blocs at a disadvantage in the upcoming Khulna City Corporation election.
The split in BNP, however, seems to be less harmful.
On January 24, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared in Khulna that the AL would back outgoing mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque in the June 15 election.
But this could not bring him much fortune--the conflict within the local AL is now putting Khaleque into an unfavourable situation in his fight against BNP-backed candidate Moniruzzaman Mony, who faces less intra-party conflicts, said AL insiders.
Quarrelling between Khaleque, president of city AL, and Mizanur Rahman Mizan, general secretary of city AL, would impact the results of the polls, they feared.
Their split got wider after the last parliamentary election. Followers of Mizan, who contested the polls with AL ticket, think he lost to BNP's Nazrul Islam Monju due to non-cooperation of Khaleque. Mizan and his followers also did not get "facilities" from the KCC during Khaleque's mayorship, and they were not treated well by Khaleque, party insiders said.
Some central leaders of the AL, including an influential Bagerhat lawmaker, are trying to resolve the conflicts and ensure victory for Khaleque, sources said. Mizan and some local leaders, however, denied having any internal conflict and said they were working for Khaleque.
In the BNP-led opposition camp, the relation between the followers of BNP lawmaker Nazrul Islam Monzu, president of the party's city unit, and his predecessor Ali Asgor Lobby worsened, as Lobby's supporters did not get party backing to contest for councillor posts.
Monzu is working for Mony, backed by the BNP-led 18-party alliance, but Lobby loyalists might create hurdles for Mony, said BNP insiders.
Mony, who recently resigned as city BNP general secretary, said there were no conflicts in the BNP.