Khulna city polls: AL and BNP-Jamaat have 14 rebel candidates each

Nomination cancellations for the Khulna City Corporation election ended Monday, with symbols being allocated to candidates on Tuesday morning. However, despite many meetings being held, neither BNP nor Awami League has been able to reconcile with dropped candidates and achieve intra-party peace. As a result of this, 14 councillor candidates for Awami League and another 14 for the BNP-Jamaat coalition have rebelled against their parties, running without their endorsement. Of these 28, 13 are candidates for 12 general wards dropped by Awami League, with one being a candidate for the reserved women’s wards. On the other hand, BNP have seven rebel candidates running for seven general wards and two for reserved wards while Jamaat have just one. Moreover, four BNP candidates are up against their Jamaat counterparts while one solitary candidate is running separately under Jamaat’s endorsement. Awami League are already fighting ghosts of their past, as they faced similar issues in 2013 and paid for it dearly. As a result, the party has been strict regarding nominations since the start of the nomination process. After not receiving nominations due to intra-party tensions, even three existing councillors are running independently. Awami League Central Executive Committee member SM Kamal Hossain said: “We have been able to decide on single candidates for 19 general and nine reserved women’s wards because of our strictness. Sadly, some party members are not content with this and we will deal with them as per the directions of the prime minister.” BNP metropolitan Senior Joint Secretary Principal Tariqul Islam said: “Candidates were finalized as per party decisions. It is because of the party’s firm stance that there are only a handful of rebels. Not all decisions are favourable or desirable for everyone. Nevertheless, the central members will hold a discussion as to what to do with the dissenters.” The Khulna City Corporation election will take place on May 15.