Now that the Awami League has been in power for three terms in a row, many fresh faces have emerged at the forefront of politics in the Khulna-1 constituency—an AL stronghold, which includes Dakop and Batiaghata upazilas.
Eighty-year-old Panchanan Biswas, who hails from Hetalbunia village in Batiaghata, is a four-time member of parliament from the AL in this constituency. He is physically ill. Due to this, several candidates have entered the scene seeking the party nomination.
The list of nominees for this seat is long on the idea that victory is guaranteed if they get the “boat” symbol. In the past, AL candidates won the elections even though the BNP formed the government in 1991 and 2001.
Since 1973, AL candidates have been elected eight times, the BNP two times and the JaPa one time in Khulna-1 constituency. AL President and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also won once from this seat. In several party meetings recently, she asked party leaders to campaign for the party-nominated candidates, leaving aside differences.
Yet this time the AL has at least nine candidates for the 12th parliamentary election.
If the BNP participates in the election, they will have a single candidate in this seat. On the other hand, there is a single candidate each from the Jatiya Party (JaPa), Islamic Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) and Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB).
The number of voters in this constituency now stands at 282,483, half of whom are women.
In 2018, the number was 259,420 and 213,587 cast their votes, registering a turnout of 82.33%. Panchanan got 172,152 votes (80.6%) while his nearest rival, district BNP Convener Amir Ezaz Khan, bagged 28,322 votes (13.3%).
On the other hand, IAB’s Md Abu Sayeed secured 5,965 votes (2.8%), JaPa Presidium Member Sunil Shubho Roy got 4,921 votes (2.3%) and the CPB’s Ashok Kumar Sarker secured 828 votes (0.4%) during the election.
Currently, at least nine AL leaders, including Jatiya Sangsad Whip and incumbent Member of Parliament Panchanan Biswas, are campaigning to prove their strength.
The eight others are former lawmaker Nani Gopal Mondal, reserved seat MP Gloria Jharna Sarkar, Bangladesh Cricket Control Board (BCB) Director and Bangabandhu's nephew Sheikh Sohail, district AL Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Shrimanta Adhikari Rahul, former secretary Prashanta Kumar Roy, Dakop Upazila AL President Sheikh Abul Hossain, Batiaghata AL President Ashraful Alam Khan and the former mayor of the Chalna Municipality Achintya Kumar Mondal.
If the BNP participates in the election, Ezaz Khan will be its candidate. The prospective candidates from other parties are JaPa’s Sunil Shubho Roy, IAB’s Abu Sayeed and CPB's district Presidium Member Ashok Kumar Sarkar, according to party sources.
Previous polls
Current lawmaker Panchanan Biswas won the seat in 1996, 2001, 2014 and 2018.
In 2014, AL’s Nani Gopal contested the election as an independent candidate on failing to get a party ticket, but he lost to Panchanan by a margin of over 30,000 votes. He was earlier elected from this seat in 2008, defeating the BNP’s Ezaz Khan.
Earlier, Panchanan won against Ezaz Khan to go to parliament in 2001.
In the June 1996 election, AL President Sheikh Hasina was elected MP from the seat, securing 53.5% of the votes. CPB’s Achintya Kumar Biswas got the second-highest vote (16.7%) while the BNP’s Prafulla bagged 10.2% of the votes.
After Sheikh Hasina vacated the seat, Panchanan did not get the party ticket to contest the by-election. Yet he proved his acceptability by defeating the party-nominated candidate as an independent candidate.
Sheikh Harunur Rashid, the district unit AL president and chairman of the current Zilla Parishad, was elected MP from the constituency in the 1986 and 1991 elections.
Earlier, JaPa candidate Sheikh Abul Hossain won in 1988, the BNP’s Syed Mojahidur Rahman in 1979 and the AL’s MA Khair in the first parliamentary election of 1973.
Many contenders
Incumbent lawmaker Panchanan Biswas has said that he will seek the party nomination this time too.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, he said: “I am participating in party programs and social activities. I will be in the race if the party nominates me. I have been a member of parliament for 20 years. There has been extensive development of roads, bridges and communication systems in the area. If elected, there are other plans, including river dredging, for the future.”
Another leader, Nani Gopal Mondal, said: “The common people of the area want to see me as an MP. I will seek the nomination to contest the election.”
District unit leader Shrimanta Adhikari is hopeful about getting the nomination as “the prime minister has talked about the need for young leadership.” He thinks the dreams of the party could be realized if the young are given the opportunity to lead.
Retired bureaucrat Dr Prashanta Kumar Roy said that, as the whole country has progressed in development, some traditional work has been done in this constituency.
“But the public representatives could not play a dynamic role in the past. In addition, the current lawmaker could not go to parliament due to illness for a long time. At that time, the senior leaders of the party asked me to prepare for the election,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
BNP’s district unit Convener Ezaz Khan, who was defeated in the elections in 2001, 2008 and 2018, has not left the field.
“The people of the area could not vote for a long time. There is anger in them,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
“If the election is held under the caretaker government and the party participates in the election, I will seek the nomination and will definitely win if the elections are free, fair and impartial,” he added.
This is the eighth part of a series analysing parliamentary elections in Khulna-1 constituency (Dakop and Batiaghata upazilas)
