Factional disputes between the ruling 14-party alliance partners in Barisal have become visible ahead of tomorrow’s 10th parliamentary elections.
Reports from different areas suggest that the candidates nominated by the ruling alliance are facing internal conflicts, while the opposition activists are secretly telling voters to cast ballots against the ruling alliance candidates.
Nearly seven and a half lakh voters in three out of six Barisal constituencies – Barisal 2 (Ujirpur-Banaripara upazila), Barisal 3 (Babuganj-Muladi upazilas), and Barisal 4 (Mehendiganj upazila) – are ready to cast ballots at 291 voting centres.
Around 7 lakh 80 thousand voters of the other three constituencies would be deprived from voting, as AL candidates in Barisal 1 (Gournadi-Agoiljhara) and Barisal 5 (city corporation and sadar upazila) and JaPa (Ershad) candidate in Barisal 6 (Bakerganj upazila) won the seats uncontested.
In the Barisal 2 constituency, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Workers Party-backed candidate Sabina Aktar has accused the local administration of meddling in election affairs in favour of her Awami League rival.
Talukdar Md Yunus, district AL secretary and lawmaker from Barisal 1 constituency, is now contesting as the AL candidate for Barisal 2. Yunus denied Sabina’s allegations and said he would welcome any probe into the claims against him.
Central AL leaders like Amir Hossain Amu and Abul Hasanat Abdullah along with Barisal city AL unit President Shawkat Hossain Hiron have been helping Yunus’ election campaign; although rivalry between Yunus and Hiron is well-known in the region.
The supporters of Monirul Islam Monir, the incumbent AL lawmaker who was denied nomination this time, have also allegedly been secretly supporting independent candidate Sabina.
Nasiruddin Nasim Haoladar, JaPa (Ershad) candidate in the constituency, was not visible in election race; with supporters of JaPa likely to extend support for Banaripara-native Sabina, as AL candidate Yunus was from Agoiljhara.
Elsewhere in Barisal 3 constituency, the election race was now on between candidates from the AL-led alliance and JaPa (Ershad).
Sirajuddin Ahmed – nominated by the AL – withdrew nomination paper in favour of JaPa (Ershad) lawmaker and contesting candidate Golam Kibria Tipu. But some AL leaders are reportedly working directly for Workers Party-nominated candidate Tipu Sultan.
A leader of the ruling party’s Muladi upazila unit said local AL activists were working for Tipu Sultan, as he was from Muladi, while Golam Kibria Tipu of JaPa was from Babuganj.
The situation in Barisal 4 constituency was comparatively better for AL-nominated candidate Pankaj Devnath.
Among his rivals, Anjuman Salehuddin of BNF was a Dhaka resident, totally unknown in the area. Sheikh Md Joynul Abedin of JP (Anwar) was also a resident of Narayanganj and absent from election campaigning.
However, the turnout of voters in this river-isolated constituency was always less than other seats, while local sources also claimed that Barisal city AL president Advocate Afzal Hossain – who was deprived nomination – might influence voting trends.
Shohidul Alam, deputy commissioner and returning officer for six Barisal constituencies, said the administration was working according to Election Commission directives and necessary steps would be taken for conducting free, fair and peaceful elections.
