The Appellate Division order banning GM Quader from conducting activities as the Jatiya Party chairman has created much hype among its leaders and activists, especially in its stronghold Rangpur.
The court's decision has also brought to the fore the rivalry, prevailing in the top brass about establishing supremacy over the dismissal of several party stalwarts, and the differences in opinion regarding its role as an opposition party in Parliament.
The rivalry surfaced again recently centring the Rangpur City Corporation election, slated for December 27, where the two top leaders have backed their favourite candidates, with no signs of compromise at the end of the tunnel.
The grassroots leaders and activists are perplexed as, despite having open-secret enmity, the two top leaders of the party -- Ershad's wife and brother -- were seen together in a rare meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Party's Chief Advisor and Opposition Leader in Parliament Raushan Ershad recently returned home after undergoing treatment abroad for a long time. Her son Rahgir Al-Mahe Ershad Saad, the lawmaker from Rangpur-3, accompanied the duo at the meeting.
The sudden meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, held a day before the court's order, hints at a possible unification. Some say it is just the beginning of a new polarization.
GM Quader became chairman after the death of party founder General HM Ershad on July 24, 2019, a move opposed by a number of top leaders, including lawmaker Mashiur Rahman Ranga and former MP Ziaul Haque Mridha.
Electoral consensus
Latest, after the resignation of BNP lawmakers last week, JaPa leaders are reportedly in negotiations with the ruling Awami League to reach a compromise over fielding candidates in the upcoming by-polls.
Party insiders say JaPa wants to give nominations to its candidates in all the seven constituencies. Still, the decision is not easy to make with the party having divisions at the policymaking level.
Mridha is preparing to contest the by-polls to the Brahmanbaria-2 constituency that fell vacant with the resignation of the BNP lawmaker last week.
The day Raushan met with the premier, her personal assistant sent a letter to Ranga, the expelled secretary general, asking him to place wreaths at the National Memorial on her behalf on Victory Day.
The letter came as a surprise as it mentioned that the JaPa lawmakers and their assistants would accompany Ranga. However, Ranga was alone when he went to the National Memorial yesterday.
The rise of GM Quader
On December 3, 2018, then JaPa chairman and founder Ershad appointed Ranga as its secretary general, removing Ruhul Amin Hawlader.
After the death of Ershad, his brother GM Quader declared himself chairman of the party through a council on December 28, 2019. He then made party co-chairman Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu its secretary general, removing Ranga from the post on July 26, 2020.
After Bablu's death, party co-chairman Mujibul Haque Chunnu was appointed as the secretary general on October 10 last year.
On September 1 this year, Chunnu handed over a letter to Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, requesting her to recognize GM Quader as the leader of the opposition in Parliament.
Two weeks later, GM Quader expelled Ranga from all posts, including that of the presidium, on September 14 and Mridha on September 17.
The party chairman also fired several other leaders, including Gazipur metropolitan unit Advisor Ataur Rahman Sarkar and Organizing Secretary Sabur Sikdar, among others, by exercising his power.
As per JaPa constitution, the chairman has the absolute authority to terminate anyone from the party.
Mridha, a former adviser to the party chairman, filed a case against GM Quader on October 4. On October 30, the Dhaka's Joint District Sessions Judge Court 1 issued a temporary embargo on the political activities of the party chief, prompting his lawyers to file appeals against the order.
In the case, Mridha sought orders to declare all removals from December 28, 2019 to September 17, 2022, and the national council as illegal, and suspending the next council of the party until the writ petition was disposed of.
Party insiders close to GM Quader say the JaPa chairman was enraged with Ranga and his followers because of their allegiance to the party's chief patron. Ranga is also blamed for making roasting comments about GM Quader.
Ranga recently said that he had not said anything wrong about the party chairman and that he wants to resolve the ongoing dispute for the sake of the party's welfare.
GM Quader's nephew and Central Convener of Jatiya Sechchasebak Party Asif Shahriar said the case by Mridha had no merit and hoped that the matter would be resolved in court by January 9.
On the other hand, Rangpur metropolitan unit General Secretary SM Yasir said: “All the leaders and workers of Rangpur have faith in the leadership of GM Quader and we hope that he will get justice.”
