Only 22 days before the third Barisal City Corporation polls, the opposition BNP-led 18 party alliance Monday succeeded in placing Ahsan Habib Kamal as its only mayoral candidate, after a lot of drama and party-post exchanges.
On other hand, Mahmudur Rahman Khan Mamun alias Khan Mamun, joint secretary of district Jubo League did not withdraw his nomination paper, which means the outgoing mayor and city AL unit president Shawkat Hossain Hiron, who is backed by the party, must face the rebel candidate at the polls on June 15.
Both the leading alliances have been engaged in dramatic negotiations to resolve the issue of conflicting candidatures. As a result of intense bargaining, Advocate Kamrul Ahsan Shahin, the city BNP general secretary, withdrew his candidature Monday.
Returning Officer Mujibor Rahman said two mayoral candidates, and 24 general plus two reserved female councillor candidates withdrew on the last day for the withdrawal of nomination papers.
There are now three candidates for the post of mayor, 115 for general, and 45 for the seats reserved for women. He said candidates could start election campaigning from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Ebaidul Huq Chan, who was in Dhaka for talks with central BNP leaders, submitted his letter through his son in the morning. The 14-party alliance however said Chan had not followed the rules and he flew on a helicopter around 2:45pm to submit the application for the withdrawal of his nomination personally to the returning officer.
Chan met with central BNP leaders for the post of Barisal district (south) president in exchange for withdrawing his candidature in favour of Kamal, who resigned from that post and was officially announced as the 18-party alliance’s single candidate.
The drama intensified when Khan Mamun went into hiding on Saturday to avoid being pressured to withdraw his candidature before the deadline Monday, which has upset the AL-led alliance leaders.
“Kamal is the single candidate from Jatiyatabadi Nagorik Parishad in the upcoming BCC elections and we are united in this matter,” said Mojibor Rahman Sarwar, the BNP’s central organising secretary and local lawmaker.
He thanked Shahin and Chan for withdrawing their nomination papers and said the party would evaluate the sacrifices they have made. Chan said he withdrew for the greater interest of the party and the alliance.
Khan Mamun, who earlier vowed to continue to contest in the mayoral race, said he withdrew his candidature in the second BCC elections as per the party’s request. After that, he started to campaign for this year’s elections.
The AL-backed mayoral aspirant Hiron refused to comment on the issue.
