Awami League candidate and the Minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, MP, is expected to be undefeated in the Bandarban-300 constituency for the seventh time as no other major candidates are participating in the 12th national polls.
This time, there are no candidates from BNP and JSS participating in the polls.
However, Mongoe Pru, the eldest son of the 14th King Maungshai Chowdhury, is contesting the election as a dummy candidate for Awami League in the same constituency.
He is the vice-president of the district Awami League and has been involved in Awami League politics since 1985.
On the other hand, Jatiya Party candidate ATM Shahidul Islam (Bablu) is considered one of the contenders, however, he is not well known to the voters.
Uthing Marma, a resident of the city's Madhyapara, said that in the previous elections, there were strong competitors against the Awami League candidate, but this time there are not.
According to Bandarban unit Awami League sources, Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing was elected MP in 1991, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2014, and 2018.
He has served as a member of the cabinet and the state minister for the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs from January 12, 2014, and the minister of the same ministry since January 5, 2019.
Mozammel Haque Bahadur, joint general secretary of Bandarban district Awami League, said: "It does not matter whether the opponent is strong or weak, we have taken all preparations for the election from our position so that the Awami League candidate can win for the seventh time.”
In 2018, Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing won in Bandarban constituency from all 176 polling centres.
He received 142,223 votes with his electoral symbol boat.
His rival candidate from BNP, Saching Pru Jerry managed to bag 58,047 with his sheaf of paddy symbol.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh candidate Md Shawkatul Islam also got 1,003 votes with his hand fan symbol.
The 12th parliamentary election is set to be held on January 7, as per the schedule announced by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on November 15.
