As the anti-Awami League camp is strong in the Comilla-1 constituency, its rival the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won huge votes in every competitive election since the ‘90s. Even though it lost to the Awami League in 2008, the margin of votes was not too wide.
The BNP is represented by Standing Committee Member Dr Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain, a two-time former minister.
It is known from the party sources that no one else has run the campaign to become a candidate out of respect for him. Everyone is doing mass communication on his behalf.
Although Dr Mosharraf is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Singapore, the local leaders and activists are spending a busy time around the election. They believe that the leader will recover soon and contest the election. If the election is held under a neutral caretaker government, he will win.
Daudkandi Upazila BNP Convener Abdul Latif Bhuiyan said that all supporters of Daudkandi and Titas upazilas were united under the leadership of Dr Mosharraf. “If there is a fair vote, no one can stop his victory,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Major General (Retd) Mohammad Shubid Ali Bhuiyan is the current lawmaker from Comilla-1 (Daudkandi-Titas), his third consecutive term in office. He defeated Dr Mosharraf in 2008 and 2018. He is likely to get the nomination this time too, though there are several other hopefuls.
Located by the Meghna-Gomti River basin, this constituency is currently known as Comilla-1 (Daudkandi-Titas). Previously, till the 11th national election of 2018, it was regarded as Comilla-1 (Daudkandi-Meghna).
The seat was reorganized through a gazette published on June 4 of this year.
The Meghna upazila has now been attached to the Homna upazila, which is known as Comilla-2.
Jatiya Party
During the rule of JaPa founder General HM Ershad, the party was very strong in this seat, with Mohammad Mobarak Ali winning the seat in 1986 and 1988.
In 1991, no JaPa candidate contested the election from this constituency. In the June election of 1996, JaPa candidate Mahabubul Haque Dulon got 843 votes while Mohammad Golam Mustafa bagged 100 votes in 2001.
In the 2018 election, JaPa leader Abu Zayed Al Mahmud Sarkar Makhan got 779 votes.
Before the elections in 2014 and 2018, the AL reached a consensus with the JaPa to share seats. If JaPa does not join the AL coalition this time, three people are in the race to become a candidate in the party: Central Joint General Secretary and Comilla North District Convener Amir Hossain Amir, and central organizing secretaries Al Mahmud and Iftekhar Ahsan Hasan.
They are seen continuing mass communication to get party nomination.
Jamaat-e-Islami
From Jamaat, the late Maulana Abdul Latif contested the election in 1991 and advocate ABM Abdul Momin Sarkar in 1996. But their votes were limited to 4,000-5,000 in both elections.
The party has not fielded any candidate since 2001 when it forged an alliance with the BNP, Islami Oikyo Jote and Bangladesh Jatiya Party.
This time, Jamaat has kept its candidate ready since it ponders contesting the election independently, Jamaat's Daudkandi Upazila Ameer Moniruzzaman Bahlul told Dhaka Tribune.
“Our organisational work has been going on regularly despite various obstacles for the past two decades. Our popularity in the seat has increased more than at any time in the past. We hope to announce our candidate's name soon,” he added.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh
Leaders and activists of Charmonai Pir's IAB are also continuing campaigns in the constituency. In the last few years, they participated in the parliamentary by-polls and different local government elections.
The IAB's Comilla District (West) Secretary HM Rashid Mahmudi said that three candidates have been initially selected for the seat ahead of the next election. They are Central Joint Secretary General Engineer Ashraful Alam, Comilla District (West) President Maulana Bashir Ahmed and Teachers' Forum leader Kazi Rafiqul Islam.
The candidates of various other parties, including the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Gono Forum and Zaker Party, are preparing for their positions.
