Their enthusiasm created much hype ahead of the 12th general election, but none of the 135 candidates of the Trinamool BNP came out victorious. The party's chairperson and secretary general also lost their security deposit in the January 7 polls and have not visited the central office since then.
Several party leaders have claimed that they were cheated after participating in the election, which was supposed to be free and fair, as pledged by the government and the Election Commission.
Despite the debacle, the Trinamool leaders feel that the party attracted a lot of attention by participating in the election for the first time. Even if they did not win, they got political identity. For this reason, the party wants to start activities to turn things around.
Party leaders had a lot of expectations about the general election. They announced a fielding of candidates in 300 seats in the election but ultimately fought in 135 seats.
Trinamool BNP was founded by the late Barrister Nazmul Huda, one of the founding leaders of the BNP and a former minister. The party got registration on February 16, 2023. Nazmul Huda died three days after the party obtained its registration. After his death, his daughter, Antara Huda, became the acting chairman of the party on May 6. Later, former BNP leader and former diplomat Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury was made chairperson and expelled BNP leader Advocate Taimur Alam Khandkar took charge as secretary general on September 19 last year.
During a visit to the central office at Topkhana Road in Paltan on the evening of January 21, this reporter did not see any central leaders present. Two leaders, including Joint Secretary Roksana Amin Surma, were found there talking about political issues. At the time, some of the party’s nominated candidates came to the office for a short time and wandered around.
Party leaders said the chairperson and the secretary general did not come to the office even after 14 days of the election. The central leaders are depressed and physically a little sick after the election. So they have not come to the office yet. However, Roksana Amin said that she was in regular contact with other leaders of the party.
Asked about the reaction of the defeated candidates, Roksana Amin said it was the first national election for the party. “We participated in the assurance that the election would be fair. But in the end, the Election Commission and the government did not keep that promise.
“But our party leaders are optimistic. They think that even if they did not win the election, they got political identity, got the people's trust. So they want to be more active.”
The central leaders have not set any future programs yet, she added. “When they come back again, I will sit with all the leaders and workers and decide the next action plan.”
Trinamool BNP candidate from Rangamati Md Shah Hafez Mizanur Rahman was present in the office. “Before the election, I was confident about winning the seat. But the reality was different. I was informed that 100% of the votes had been cast in my constituency by noon,” he said.
“Still, the locals gave me a lot of encouragement. They said that if I contest the upazila elections, they will give me full support. Now if the team moves forward, our future will be good.”
Regarding the party’s future plans, Trinamool BNP Vice Chairperson Salam Mahmud told Bangla Tribune that a post-election meeting of the leadership with the party candidates had been postponed due to the physical illness of the two top leaders.
“But we will sit down soon and decide the action plan. We will discuss the upcoming Upazila Parishad elections, reorganize the existing committees, and declare new committees in some districts,” Mahmud added.