With less than a month to go before the third Barisal City Corporation elections, the 18-party opposition alliance Monday extended its support to local BNP leader Ahsan Habib Kamal to run for mayor. Supporters of the BNP-led alliance organised a huge welcome rally, starting from the gateway to Barisal city, as Kamal arrived from Dhaka by road, accompanied by BNP lawmaker Mujibur Rahman Sarwar.
On Monday afternoon, a grand reception was also held for Kamal, a former mayor and district (south) BNP president, in front of the party’s office at Ashwini Kumar Hall premises.
Although local government elections are supposed to be non-party contests, they usually turn highly political in reflecting public views.
The 14-party alliance led by ruling Awami League, at a party conference on May 10 endorsed Shawkat Hossain Hiron as its mayoral candidate for the city elections, scheduled to be held on June 15.
Two other rebel candidates, Ebaidul Huq Chan, former district BNP secretary and ex-president of Barisal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and Mahmudur Rahman Khan Mamun, joint secretary of district Jubo League, are also in the running for the mayor’s post.
At Monday’s reception, Sarwar, who is also a former BCC mayor, announced that the 18-party alliance had decided to back Kamal as the Jatiyatabadi Nagorik Parishad candidate in the upcoming polls, and asked rebel candidates to withdraw from the mayoral race.
“We hope that other candidates for mayor will extend support to Kamal by withdrawing their nomination papers by May 26,” Sarwar said, in presence of all prominent city and district leaders of the alliance.
Kamrul Ahsan Shahin, city BNP secretary and a former public prosecutor, decided to withdraw his nomination paper following the alliance decision.
May 26 is the last date for withdrawal of candidatures.
Meanwhile, Ebaidul Huq Chan at a press conference yesterday announced that he would contest the polls under the banner of Barisal Nagorik Forum, with a pledge to develop Barisal and make the city free form formalin and drugs.
“I am a BNP supporter, but local government elections are not party-based. So, none should be declared as an official candidate from any party,” Chan told reporters at a city hotel.
Moreover, Mahmudur Rahman Khan Mamun said he had withdrawn his candidature in the second city elections as per party request and had been eyeing the mayor’s post since. So this time, he was determined to stay in the race. In the second city polls in 2008, the Awami League-led alliance backed Shawkat Hossain Hiron, who defeated his nearest rival, BNP-supported Sarfuddin Santu, with a marginal 588 votes.