Rajshahi AL, BNP put away intra-party feuds

The mayoral election to Rajshahi City Corporation came as a blessing both for Awami League and BNP, as their local units started to put away intra-party differences, taking the June 15 election to be the toughest battle in the last two decades.
For BNP, the party which was riven by infighting between its city President Mizanur Rahman Minu and district President Nadim Mostafa even a couple of weeks ago, the election gave a chance for them to reunite, both considering the election as a major national issue, said party insiders.
After city Jubo Dal President Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul was backed by the BNP-led alliance, Nadim, who had aspired to join the race, started working for Bulbul. Jamaat-e-Islami withdrew its candidate and is also working for Bulbul alongside other parties of the alliance and Hefajat-e Islam.
BNP wants its leader to regain the city mayorship which Minu held for 17 years until 2008.
Seeing BNP's reunification, AL activists too started coordinated campaigns for outgoing mayor and city AL General Secretary AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, considering the poll as a battle between the forces for and against the Liberation War spirit, according to party sources.
The AL-led alliance is also working for Liton although he earned discontent of his party men for his attempt to keep the corporation free from partisan politics.
The two major parties first fought in the RCC election in 1994 when BNP's Minu defeated his nearest rival and AL leader Abdul Matin Khan. In 2002, AL had no candidate and supported Workers' Party of Bangladesh leader Fazle Hossain Badsha. Minu won the election.
The 2008 poll changed the scenario and Liton won it by a margin of 23,810 votes. Although BNP did not join the race, nor it supported anyone, Bulbul contested it as Minu was in jail.