The Awami League’s Kushtia 4 unit has been ravaged by infighting ever since the 2014 general election when the ruling party’s candidate, Abdur Rouf, defeated renegade contestant, Sadar Uddin Khan, by a small margin.
Sadar now heads the Awami League’s Kushtia 4 unit, with incumbent MP Rouf on bad terms with him and other influential local leaders.
“I am a man with a clean image,” incumbent MP Rouf said. “My development projects speak for themselves so I believe I won’t have a problem getting the nomination this time.”
There is, however, no clear frontrunner in the race to secure the Awami League’s nomination for the seat after the most recent election brought the party’s internal conflicts to the surface.
Freedom fighter Sadar is known to be very close to the ruling party’s ever popular joint general secretary, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, who holds the neighbouring seat of Kushtia 3.
Sadar said he is hopeful of being handed the nomination but is wary of the wide field of candidates in the constituency.
“Some people are allying themselves with BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami and announcing their candidacy,” he said. “Our leader has everyone’s dossier (and) this time, nominations will be made after much scrutiny. Those, who are working for the party, will get the nomination.”
Other contenders for AL in Kushtia 4 are the former MP Begum Sultana Torun, the former Kushtia zila parishad chairman and freedom fighter Zahid Hossain Zafar, and the Awami League’s district unit science and IT affairs secretary, Faruk Ibne Abu Bakar.
There are also two candidates with strong ties to the ruling party’s illustrious past.
Barrister Selim Altaf George is the grandson of Bangabandhu’s close aide, Golam Kibria, while Cosmos Group Managing Director Masud Jamil Khan is the grandson of Brigadier Jamil Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram, who was killed along with the Father of the Nation in 1975.
Masud is reportedly in touch with the party’s central command.
Apart from them, Kumarkhali upazila parishad chairman and the upazila unit Awami League chief Abdul Mannan, and young Awami League leader Mizanur Rahman Bitu are likely to seek the party’s nomination.
BNP’s fight to regain Kushtia 4
The BNP is hoping to take advantage of the Awami League’s infighting in Kushtia 4 and will likely put its faith in the party’s unit president, Syed Mehedi Ahmed Rumi, who won the seat in 2001 and 2008.
BNP’s local leaders and activists say there is no alternative to him for the BNP. Rumi has been active in the field for a long time and continues to campaign ahead of the polls.
“No-one will be able to stop the BNP from winning if the voters can go to the polling stations and cast their votes,” Rumi said.
Apart from him, local sources say BNP’s Kumarkhali Upazila unit vice-president Nurul Islam Pramanik Ansar will seek the party’s nomination. He is a four-time municipal mayor.
Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum (BNP leaning lawyers’ forum) Office Secretary Mortuza Azam-ul-Alam will also seek the nomination, sources say.