2,000 BNP men quit over Jamiat leader's ticket

Around 2,000 activists in Jashore's Manirampur quit the BNP yesterday protesting the party's decision not to nominate any of its leaders for a parliamentary seat in the district, local BNP sources said.

Mufti Md Wakkas, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a partner in the BNP-led 20-party alliance, got the nomination for Jashore-5.

Talking to The Daily Star, many of the protesters said they faced lawsuits and torture in the last 10 years and that many BNP men got killed in “crossfire”. 

However, the party high-up did not take those issues into consideration while picking the candidate, they said.

GM Ahad Ali, former president of Kashimnagar union BNP, said, "Despite such dedication and sacrifice, any of our party men was not nominated. We had no other option than quitting to express our grievances”.

Contacted, Shabirul Haque Shabu, general secretary of Jashore BNP, confirmed the incident.

Despite repeated attempts, The Daily Star could not reach Wakkas over phone for comments.

Meanwhile in Moulvibazar, law enforcers yesterday arrested 19 BNP and Jamat men as they were accused in different cases over sabotage.