A clear disparity is becoming visible in the record of lawsuits against the Awami League and BNP leaders who are running for the upazila parishad poll the first phase of which is due in just a few days’ time.
According to the affidavits that the contenders have submitted to the Election Commission and the information sent by our district correspondents, in many upazilas, the Awami League-backed aspirants have clean sheets while their BNP-backed rivals have multiple cases against them.
The Dhaka Tribune looked into the affidavits of at least forty upazila chairmen candidates to find out the present status of cases filed against the contenders.
While some of these cases were filed on criminal charges, the BNP have claimed that most of the cases against its grassroots leaders are politically motivated and filed during the previous term of the Awami League-led government.
During its previous tenure, the government, through a specialised committee, withdrew a few thousand cases against Awami League leaders and activists with the consideration that those cases were all “politically motivated” and filed during the previous tenures of the BNP-led government.
The BNP, however, have always alleged that the committee had never recommended any case against any of its leaders for withdrawal.
There are exceptions to this as well. For example, in Gopalganj, known for being the stronghold of the Awami League, two upazilas are seeing elections in the first phase, slated for February 19.
Interestingly, all the chairman contenders – both from the Awami League and BNP tents – in these two upazilas have clean sheets.
On the other hand, in Khagrachari, elections will be held in six upazilas where 26 people are vying for the chairmen posts and among them criminal cases were found against six contenders. Among those six, four are affiliated with BNP and one with the Awami League and one is an independent candidate.
“The BNP-led alliance government filed a false case against me and it will be disposed of shortly:” KM Alimullah, an Awami League leader and also an aspirant of Ramgarh Upazila, told the Dhaka Tribune.
However, Shahidul Islam, another aspirant for the chairman post of Ramgarh upazila and also a BNP leader, said: “As I do politics locally, the Awami League government has filed three false cases against me which are politically motivated. So, I do not bother about the cases.”
In Karimganj of Kishoreganj, four are contesting for chairman posts in this year’s upazila parishad elections. Among them, cases were found against two candidates, of whom one is BNP-backed and the other is a rebel BNP leader.
In Bajitpur upazila of the district, five contenders are running for the chairman post. Cases were found against three BNP-minded contenders while no case was found against the Awami League-backed candidate. Among the BNP men, the highest of nine cases were counted against Moniruzzaman Monir, a local BNP leader.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of SUJAN, said it was normal for political parties to file cases against their opponents.
Whenever a party is in power, it would withdraw the “politically motivated” cases against its leaders and activists, not those against their opponents, he said.
“The number of cases against the BNP-backed candidates would be higher than the Awami League-backed candidates because many of those filed against the Awami League men [during the tenure of the BNP-led government] had been withdrawn. It only shows the emptiness of our political parties,” Badiul told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
There are also some upazilas where neither the Awami League-backed nor the BNP-backed candidates have clean sheets.
In Barisal, voting will be held in two upazilas and 10 contenders are vying for the chairmen posts. Among them, cases were found against two – one each from the BNP and Awami League tents.
In Magura, where two upazilas will vote in the first phase, four contenders were found with lawsuits against their names. Of them two are supporters of BNP and two of the Awami League.
In Sylhet elections will be held in six upazilas and 26 candidates are vying for the chairmen posts. In six upazilas cases were found against two Awami League-minded contenders while BNP-backed candidates are facing cases in all the upazilas except Goainghat upazila.
In Bishwanath Upazila, BNP-backed candidate Sohel Ahmed Chowdhury is facing the highest 12 cases.