After punishing its “disobedient” leaders for contesting in the upcoming four city elections, the BNP has now formed ward-level committees to monitor party leaders and supporters campaigning for the candidates expelled from the party.
This comes as the Barisal and Khulna city corporations go to the polls on Monday amid much enthusiasm and vibrant campaigning.
The BNP has been boycotting all local government polls and by-elections, and permanently expelled 19 leaders, including a mayoral aspirant, in Barisal and nine in Khulna for joining the polls race.
The party has also expelled 43 leaders in Sylhet and 19 in Rajshahi. Earlier, 29 councillor candidates were expelled ahead of Gazipur city polls that saw 48.75% turnout with no report of violence; among them, a dozen became victorious in the polls.
In Barisal, a local BNP leader said that meetings were held in all 30 wards of Barisal City Corporation on Friday when voters, alongside the party leaders and activists, were asked not to bolster the government's stance by casting their votes.
If voters throng the polling centres, it would give an opportunity for international organizations to claim that the elections are participatory, as BNP leaders feared during the meetings.
Any party member disobeying these instructions and participating in the elections under the current government would face lifetime expulsion, they warned.
Barisal City BNP Convenor Moniruzzaman Farooq confirmed this strategy as well, revealing that local BNP leaders are working to prevent party supporters from visiting the polling centres.
The aim is to dissuade not only the candidates but also their supporters from voting, he added.
BNP Barisal Divisional Organizing Secretary Bilkis Akhtar Jahan Shirin reasserted that their primary campaign is to voice opposition to the government.
She affirmed that neither the BNP nor the common people would participate in any election under the current unlawful government.
In Khulna, BNP leaders and activists are warned of organizational measures if they violate the party's decision.
In this regard, the party formed 31 “secret” monitoring cells in as many wards of the city, confirmed BNP's Khulna city unit Member Secretary Shafiqul Alam Tuhin.
Each of the committees has 21 members, who are tasked with keeping an eye on those breaching the party's command.
Our Barisal and Khulna correspondents Anisur Rahman Swapan and Md Hedait Hossain Molla contributed to the report
