YouTuber Ashraful Hossen Alom, popularly known as Hero Alom, on Tuesday joined the Bangladesh Muktijuddho Projonmo League as its cultural secretary and said that it has nothing to do with the ruling Awami League.
Marking the development, he visited the grave of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in Tungipara of Gopalganj, and paid homage to the slain leader in the afternoon.
Earlier in the day, he left Dhaka on a minibus for Tungipara along with his leaders and activists.
Before starting the journey, Hero Alom and Bangladesh Muktijuddho Projonmo League President Ahmed Saifur Rahman Chhoton spoke to reporters.
Chhoton said: "Hero Alom joined the party as cultural secretary. We are going to Gopalganj’s Tungipara to visit the Mausoleum of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman."
Responding to a question, Hero Alom said: "Bangladesh Muktijuddho Projonmo League is not a political party; it is an organization. Despite carrying the word ‘league’ in its name, it is nothing but an organization."
‘Will vie with party symbol’
Talking to reporters in Gopalganj, Hero Alom said he would contest the parliamentary election with a party symbol instead of being an independent candidate in the future.
"I’ve yet to declare whether I’d run a polls race or not. But if I contest any election, I will do so using a party symbol. I’ll never be an independent candidate again," he said.
"I’ll also reveal whose symbol I’d be using in the election," he said, vowing to run from Bogra.
Hero Alom has drawn national interest recently for his involvement in politics. On July 17, he contested the Dhaka-17 by-election as an independent candidate. There, he received 5,609 votes as the closest competitor to Awami League candidate Mohammad A Arafat.
Hero Alom entered the spotlight by participating in the by-elections for Bogra-4 (Kahalu-Nandigram) and Bogra-6 (Sadar) seats. In a hard-fought contest, he lost to Awami League-backed Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal candidate AKM Rezaul Karim Tansen in Bogra-4 constituency with 834 votes less than the Ektara symbol.
He was defeated by Awami League-nominated candidate Ragebul Ahsan in the Bogra-6 constituency.
In the 11th parliamentary election in 2018, Hero Alom was not nominated by the Jatiya Party for the Bogra-4 constituency. Instead, he ran as an independent candidate using the lion symbol and received 638 votes.
GD over death threat
In another development, Hero Alom filed a general diary with Hatirjheel police station on Monday night after an unidentified man allegedly demanded money from him and threatened to kill him.
Confirming the matter on Tuesday, he said that the person sought Tk700,000 from him.
Our Gopalganj correspondent Monoj Kumar Saha and Bogra correspondent Nazmul Huda Nasim contributed to this report.
