Multiple aspirants seek AL, BNP tickets

Many Awami League (AL) and BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) leaders are in the race to get nominations from their respective alliances for Patuakhali-2 constituency, known as a stronghold of the ruling party, in the next national polls. ASM Firoz, the current chief whip in Parliament, is one of the possible candidates for the AL-led grand allaince. Other possible AL candidates for this constituency include Krishak League central unit general secretary Shamsul Haq Reza, BCL central unit former leader Rasidul Hasan Supto, Patuakhali District Awami League organising secretary and Mayor of Bauphal municipality Ziaul Haque Jewel, Juba League central unit member Jobaidul Haque Rasel, BCL central unit former leader Md. Shahin, upazila chairman Engineer Majibur Rahman.

Meanwhile, eight aspirants have bought nomination forms from BNP. One each from Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Shashantanro Andolan has been trying to get nomination from their respective party.

AL leader advocate Abdul Aziz Khandaker was elected from this constituency from 1970 to 1979. After his death in 1979, ASM Firoz has been fighting elections from here with AL ticket.

But now, a faction of the party is against him. The AL's support for the mayoral post in the Bauphal municipality election on May 22, 2012, caused a dispute in the upazila unit of the party. A rebel candidate, Ziaul Haque Jewel, who is also the organising secretary of the district unit of the AL, was elected as the mayor. After that, Jewel created a separate platform for the upazila unit of the AL.

However, Krishak League central unit general secretary Shamsul Haque Reza has not got involved in the party dispute.

In the 2001 parliamentary election, BNP candidate Shahidul Alam Talukder was elected from the seat. In 2008, the BNP-nominated candidate, Faruq Ahmed Talukdar, who joined from Jatiya Party, fought the election from here. BNP grassroots leaders and workers think that they will be able to compete with the AL in the next election if Shahidul Alam Talukder gets the nomination.

BNP central committee co-office secretary Muhammad Munir Hossain and Shaheed Zia Research Council president Anisur Rahman are also in the race to get party nomination for this constituency.

Besides, Jamaat, a key ally of BNP in the 20-party alliance, has been working for its Dhaka city south ameer Muhammad Shafiqul Islam Masud to field him in the next polls from Partuakhali-2.

Jamaat is working on the grassroots level in favour of Masud although the party cannot contest the polls due to a 2013 High Court verdict that declared Jamaat’s registration illegal and unlawful—as many provisions of its charter ran counter to the country’s constitution and Representation of the People Order (RPO).

However, Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed recently told media that the commission has no jurisdiction to prevent anyone from contesting the election independently or with a coalition.

Shafiqul Islam Masud has already formed a 30-member committee to take charge of 108 polling centres of the constituency. Besides, 138 village committees of Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir have completed preparatory work for the election. Bauphal upazila Jamaat ameer Mawlana Rafiqul Islam confirmed the matter to journalists. He said there is an internal conflict in the upazila BNP. “So, we are hopeful that our candidate Dr Shafiqul Islam Masud will be nominated from the coalition. If we fail to get nomination from the coalition, we’ve the ability to independently compete in the forthcoming election,” he added.
According to Patuakhali district election officer Ziaul Islam, Patuakhali constituency-2 has 2,51,879 voters. Of them male voters are 1, 26, 717 and female voters are 1, 25, 162. The number of vote centers is 108 and booths are 506.
Md. Mahfuzur Rahman, Additional Police Super, Patuakhali, told the independent, ‘Law and order is well in Patuakhali. So, there is no risky vote center in the 4 constituencies in the district. But also we have taken special arrangement to ensure security to remote areas vote centers.

Multiple aspirants seek AL, BNP tickets

Many Awami League (AL) and BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) leaders are in the race to get nominations from their respective alliances for Patuakhali-2 constituency, known as a stronghold of the ruling party, in the next national polls. ASM Firoz, the current chief whip in Parliament, is one of the possible candidates for the AL-led grand allaince. Other possible AL candidates for this constituency include Krishak League central unit general secretary Shamsul Haq Reza, BCL central unit former leader Rasidul Hasan Supto, Patuakhali District Awami League organising secretary and Mayor of Bauphal municipality Ziaul Haque Jewel, Juba League central unit member Jobaidul Haque Rasel, BCL central unit former leader Md. Shahin, upazila chairman Engineer Majibur Rahman. Meanwhile, eight aspirants have bought nomination forms from BNP. One each from Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Shashantanro Andolan has been trying to get nomination from their respective party. AL leader advocate Abdul Aziz Khandaker was elected from this constituency from 1970 to 1979. After his death in 1979, ASM Firoz has been fighting elections from here with AL ticket. But now, a faction of the party is against him. The ALs support for the mayoral post in the Bauphal municipality election on May 22, 2012, caused a dispute in the upazila unit of the party. A rebel candidate, Ziaul Haque Jewel, who is also the organising secretary of the district unit of the AL, was elected as the mayor. After that, Jewel created a separate platform for the upazila unit of the AL. However, Krishak League central unit general secretary Shamsul Haque Reza has not got involved in the party dispute. In the 2001 parliamentary election, BNP candidate Shahidul Alam Talukder was elected from the seat. In 2008, the BNP-nominated candidate, Faruq Ahmed Talukdar, who joined from Jatiya Party, fought the election from here. BNP grassroots leaders and workers think that they will be able to compete with the AL in the next election if Shahidul Alam Talukder gets the nomination. BNP central committee co-office secretary Muhammad Munir Hossain and Shaheed Zia Research Council president Anisur Rahman are also in the race to get party nomination for this constituency. Besides, Jamaat, a key ally of BNP in the 20-party alliance, has been working for its Dhaka city south ameer Muhammad Shafiqul Islam Masud to field him in the next polls from Partuakhali-2. Jamaat is working on the grassroots level in favour of Masud although the party cannot contest the polls due to a 2013 High Court verdict that declared Jamaats registration illegal and unlawfulas many provisions of its charter ran counter to the countrys constitution and Representation of the People Order (RPO). However, Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed recently told media that the commission has no jurisdiction to prevent anyone from contesting the election independently or with a coalition. Shafiqul Islam Masud has already formed a 30-member committee to take charge of 108 polling centres of the constituency. Besides, 138 village committees of Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir have completed preparatory work for the election. Bauphal upazila Jamaat ameer Mawlana Rafiqul Islam confirmed the matter to journalists. He said there is an internal conflict in the upazila BNP. So, we are hopeful that our candidate Dr Shafiqul Islam Masud will be nominated from the coalition. If we fail to get nomination from the coalition, weve the ability to independently compete in the forthcoming election, he added. According to Patuakhali district election officer Ziaul Islam, Patuakhali constituency-2 has 2,51,879 voters. Of them male voters are 1, 26, 717 and female voters are 1, 25, 162. The number of vote centers is 108 and booths are 506. Md. Mahfuzur Rahman, Additional Police Super, Patuakhali, told the independent, Law and order is well in Patuakhali. So, there is no risky vote center in the 4 constituencies in the district. But also we have taken special arrangement to ensure security to remote areas vote centers.