Prospective candidates for the Comilla-2 (Homna-Meghna) seat are busy with public engagements as well as approaching the high command ahead of the 12th national election.
Although the Awami League is organizationally weak in this seat, businessperson Selima Ahmad was elected for the first time since 1973 with the "boat" symbol in the 2018 election.
Since 2008, the seat has been out of the hands of the BNP. Therefore, this time, the leaders and activists of the party are entering the field with all their strength to retake it.
In the 11th national election, Selima’s closest rival was the BNP's heavyweight candidate, Dr Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain, who also conceded defeat in the Comilla-1 constituency.
The BNP faced a leadership crisis in the seat after the boycott of votes in 2014 and the death of MK Anwar, a six-time elected former MP and two-time minister, in 2017.
However, the context this time is completely different for two reasons. There are several strong candidates in both big parties.
On the other hand, on June 4 this year, the Election Commission changed the boundaries and rearranged the constituency under the name of Comilla-2 (Homna-Meghna upazilas). Until then, the seat had consisted of Homna and Titas upazilas. The current MP was also elected within this boundary. As such, Meghna Upazila is new to her.
Again, other candidates have been doing mass communication and development work focusing on the Homana-Titas arrangement, but only for votes.
The boundary of Comilla-1 was changed to connect Titas with Daudkandi, and everything turned upside down.
According to local leaders and activists, the voters of Meghna will be able to bring the new area in their favour. Earlier, all the parties were more or less operating in Homna; in Meghna, it did not happen in that sense. However, they believe that the result could be different if any of the big parties single-handedly get nominated from there.
Leaders of the major political parties — the Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party — are already working to keep the seat under their control.
Among them are current MP Selima Ahmed, president of the Homna Upazila Awami League, educationist and businessman Abdul Majid, and the party's Meghna Upazila President Shafiqul Alam. The nomination seekers of the ruling party are at loggerheads with one another. If the issues are not resolved, it will become a major concern for the party.
On the other hand, senior BNP leader and former minister Dr Mosharraf, party Chairperson Khaleda Zia's former APS Abdul Matin, and Teachers-Workers Union President Principal Salim Bhuiyan are likely to seek nominations from the party.
JaPa leader Mohammad Amir Hossain Bhuiyan, who was elected unopposed in the 2014 one-sided election, is also in the field. Besides, other parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, the National Awami Party (NAP), and the Zaker Party, are also campaigning from their own positions.
Election performance
In 2018, Homna resident and Vice President of Nitol-Niloy Group of Industries and Vice President of Comilla North District unit AL Selima Ahmad won the seat, bagging 206,007 votes. The closest rival, Dr Mosharraf, got only 20,926 votes.
After the fall of military dictator HM Ershad in 1990, the BNP won most of the democratic and competitive elections.
The Comilla-2 (Homna-Titas) parliamentary seat was formed due to the change of boundaries before the ninth national election in 2008. MK Anwar, the late member of the BNP Standing Committee and two-time former minister, was elected from the Four-Party Alliance by defeating the AL’s Abdul Majid.
Before that, in the election in 2001, the seat was known as Comilla-1 with several unions of Meghna along with Homna. At that time, MK Anwar was elected as a candidate of the Four-Party Alliance. He defeated AL’s Jahangir Alam Sarkar. The same happened in the national election on June 12, 1996.
MK Anwar also won the seat in the elections of February 15, 1996, and 1991.
After he died in 2017, the party faced a vacuum in leadership. His wife lives in London with two sons and a daughter. Elder son Mahmud Anwar Kaizer was rumoured to be a candidate, but local activists said that he has no contact with the area.
On the other hand, apart from winning unopposed in the one-sided election of 2014, the JaPa has no significant vote in the constituency.
Multiple aspirants in AL
Ruling party lawmaker Selima Ahmad is the wife of prominent businessman Abdul Matlub Ahmad and vice chairman of Nitol-Niloy Group of Industries. Organizationally, she is the vice president of the Comilla North District Awami League. In addition, she is also serving as the president of the Bangladesh Women's Chamber of Commerce. She has been a teacher at Dhaka University.
Although she has a clean image, a part of the party blames her for her inaction in joining organizational activities and initiating any visible development in the area. Moreover, the party’s candidate lost the last UP election in her constituency.
Another nomination seeker, Principal Abdul Majid, is the owner of Popy Library and the party's Homna upazila president. In the 2008 election, he contested against the BNP's MK Anwar and came in second. This time, he is also lobbying at the central level alongside mass communication for the party nomination.
He is unwilling to give a single concession to the current MP, he told Dhaka Tribune, claiming that many leaders and activists, including him, have been injured in multiple clashes with the MP group in the past. Also, several false cases have been filed against his followers.
Another strong candidate of the Awami League is the former chairman of Meghna Upazila Parishad and president of the upazila unit, Shafiqul Alam. He has also been touring the constituency with his followers.
He said that despite the unprecedented development in the country in the past few days, this seat is lagging behind due to the lack of people-friendly leadership. Therefore, he is also a candidate this time due to the pressure of the people.
Dhaka Tribune spoke with the lawmaker, Selima Ahmad. She said she ensured victory for the boat for the first time in the elections after 1973. During this time, there has been a lot of development in the area.
For the first time, the renovation of the ancient Tebagia Bridge in the Pangasia area and the development of the Gouripur-Homna-Batakandi road are noteworthy. In addition, she has built several new buildings at various social and religious institutions, including schools and colleges. The construction of the upazila model mosque is underway. Solar home systems have been delivered to remote areas with government grants.
The most important thing is that she has established the rule of law in this expatriate-dominated area, the MP said. "Once the people of the area were oppressed by terrorism and extortionists. Currently, there is a peaceful environment."
She is hopeful of getting nominated again, but she added that she will be in the field for whoever gets the nomination.
Dr Mosharraf, Matin in the race
Local BNP leaders said they have heard that Dr Mosharraf will fight from this seat again. Acting president of Homna Upazila BNP Zahirul Haque Zahoor said that there is a 100% possibility of Dr Mosharraf getting elected in the upcoming elections.
BNP chief Khaleda Zia's former APS Abdul Matin is also campaigning to get the party ticket. Until the June 3 boundary change, he did public relations in the Comilla-1 constituency. However, now he has announced the fight from the Comilla-2 (Homna-Meghna) seat.
He said he wants to complete the unfinished development work of MK Anwar in the future.
Principal Salim Bhuiyan, a resident of Meghna Upazila and the president of the party's professional association—the Teachers-Workers Union—is also in the discussion. He is also campaigning from his own position. He said that most of the party's leaders are on his side.
The JaPa lost ground after 1990. However, in 2014, as most parties, including the BNP, boycotted the vote, JaPa Central Vice Chairman and Comilla North District Convener Amir Hossain Bhuiyan was elected unopposed. He is engaged in mass communication this time around and has expressed the hope that people will choose him again, remembering his role in development in the past.
