The season of national elections have always been happy times for the rural nuclear economies of the country with candidates spending a lot of money for development works in the area and also to woo people to vote for them.
However, in the 153 parliamentary constituencies, where there will be no election this year, the rural economies, which are already reeling from the fallouts of the prolonged political turmoil, have seen no such pre-election inflow of money.
Apparently, chances of any meaningful competition in the remaining seats are also slim, and hence the candidates in those constituencies are not spending too much either for pre-election activities.
Dr Zaid Bakht, development analyst and research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The political turmoil has already seriously affected the rural economy. The absence of money inflow during the elections will have no positive impact.
“A vibrant rural economy is key to the country’s development. As blockades and strikes have affected it, rural-urban wealth distribution will suffer a severe jolt and Bangladesh’s inclusive growth target will not be attained,” he said.
According to existing rules, candidates are allowed to spend a maximum of Tk25 lakh each for pre-election activities such as printing publicity posters, banners, festoons, hiring vehicles and other campaign related works. The limit was Tk15 lakh in the 2008 elections.
In most cases, however, candidates exceeded those limits by spending five to ten times more. The common practice before elections has been to donate money for various local development activities like repairing and construction of mosques and temples, schools and colleges; even cash incentives for the voters.
Although all these expenditures are illegal, they give the rural economies the much-needed boost every time before elections by creating additional employment opportunities in the areas and enhancing the purchasing power of the rural populace.
Subodh Chandra Mandal is a fishermen from the Ashtagram upazila in Kishorganj district. He told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are not concerned about the elections because President Abdul Hamid’s son has already been elected [unopposed] a member of parliament because there is no other candidate.
“Our only concern now is that our livelihoods are now at stake because of the opposition’s prolonged blockades.”
Not only has the elections brought no good news for the struggling rural economies, fears of escalating violence after the elections has also gripped many villages.
Abdur Rahim, a paddy grower from the same area, said: “We are worried not about the elections; but about what will happen after the elections. Because of the political turmoil, we have not been able to sell our paddy. The fishermen have not been able to sell their catch either.”
Rashed Al Mahmud Titumuir, chairman of economic think tank Unnayan Onneshan, told the Dhaka Tribune that pre-election boost for the rural economies was much needed this year, especially the blows that these economies suffered because of the prolonged political turmoil.
“Huge amount of funds will not go to the public this year as there will be no elections in a total of 154 constituencies,” Titumir said.
Zahir Alam, an official of the finance ministry, said the people in the rural areas are not concerned about elections because of the hardships that they had been going through in recent times.
The fact that there had not been any usual economic activity ahead of the elections, would only add more misery, Zahir said.
“Rural people have poor savings. If political violence continues, many people will slide below the poverty line. Construction work, supply chain and channeling of public funds to the rural areas through development projects will be affected severely. These will have long term adverse impact on the rural economies,” he explained.
