The Awami League may have held the parliamentary seat of Habiganj 2 for the past 27 years but with barely three months to go to the election, localised internal feuds are causing tension among the ruling party’s leaders and activists.
A number of groups have taken shape inside the party and have started campaigning for at least eight party leaders who are seeking the AL ticket in the constituency, which includes Baniachong and Ajmiriganj upazilas.
The Baniachong upazila Awami League unit is apparently working to help the unit president, Amir Hossain Master, win the party nomination ahead of current MP Abdul Majid Khan.
The differences between the party’s affiliated organizations, however, have also taken a serious turn, with two committees of the Bangladesh Chhatra League’s upazila units recently dissolved by the district unit.
The BNP campaign effort in the constituency is also being diluted by the competing interests of two influential leaders and the different groups working for them.
In contrast, the Jatiya Party is presenting a far more united front in Habiganj 2 as it has fewer nomination seekers than the ruling party.
Chain of success
The total number of voters in Habiganj 2 constituency is 309,909 – of which 230,156 are from Baniachong and 79,753 are from Ajmiriganj. People from the minority communities hold a big number of votes in these upazilas, which are considered a stronghold for the Awami League.
In 1970, the party’s candidate won the seat in the general election while in 1973, the AL-backed candidate won.
In 1991-1996, the then District Awami League President Late Adv Sharif Uddin Ahmed won and became MP twice. After his death in 1997, the prime minister’s parliamentary affairs adviser at that time, Suranjit Sen Gupta, won the resulting by-election.
In 2001, Industrialist Najmul Hasan Zahed won from here and Abdul Majid Khan was elected to parliament from the seat in 2008 and 2014.
Awami League divided
Although Abdul Majid has achieved many significant developments for the constituency, he has recently had to contend with accusations from inside his own party of having ties with Jamaat-E-Islami and BNP.
“I think there is an issue regarding my nomination in Awami League,” the MP said. “There might be misunderstandings between party men. I am working for the last nine years in the development of Habiganj; nobody in history did such kind of developments in this region like me.”
Abdul Majid still has his support base inside the AL, but there is another group ranged against him which is campaigning in favour of Amir Hossain for the next general polls.
“All the Awami League activists and its associates of the upazila are supporting me,” Amir Hossain said. “I am very much hopeful that my party will give me the nomination for the upcoming general election.”
As well as the two main groups working for Abdul Majid MP and Amir Hossain, there are six other groups positioned behind other prospective candidates for the upcoming election.
The other big guns in the area seeking for nominations are the former secretary and a close ally of Awami League, Md Iqbal Khan Chowdhury; Awami League Central Leader and Assistant Attorney General Sayeda Mafuz; the Habiganj District Awami League former joint general secretary, Abu Bakr Siddique; and non-resident Bangladeshi Awami League leader, Shah Newaz.
Visible confrontation in BNP
BNP is not without its own internal problems in Habiganj 2, with its election preparations hampered by an open confrontation between the party’s two top leaders in the area.
Since 2009, BNP Central Organizing Secretary Dr Sakhawat Hasan Chowdhury Jibon has controlled the political scenario of Habiganj 2 BNP.
He has forcefully dissolved committees of both upazilas, justifying the move in Ajmiriganj by saying the BNP president had been living abroad for a long time.
“There is no clash between the two upazila committees but as a new committee was formed, some were hurt,” he said. “But there is no grouping among us. I do politics for the people and will work in favour of the one my party nominates.”
The main rival of Dr Sakhawat is Saudi Arabia BNP President Ahmad Abdullah Mukib, who is also a close aide of Tarique Rahman.
Activists of these two leaders are hosting programs and activities separately, with both claiming they deserve the party’s nomination for the 11th general polls.
Apart from this, BNP’s Habiganj district unit Vice President Manjur Ahmed Shahin is also lobbying for nomination.
Jatiya Party united
The Jatiya Party has no internal grouping as its general secretary Shankar Paul has already been nominated by the party chairman, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, despite having contested two previous elections, losing them both.
