The rivalry between two factions of Chittagong city unit Awami League surfaced once again centering a view-change meeting with nomination seekers for the upcoming general election and leaders of different wards.
ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, city unit president of AL, convened the meeting at Muslim Institute Hall for Saturday, however, Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr Afsarul Amin Chowdhury MP and Nurul Islam MP, who have a long rivalry with the former mayor, have announced that he would not join the meeting.
Afsarul, who is also a joint secretary of the city unit, told Dhaka Tribune that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would exchange views with the grass root leaders and nomination seekers on September 20, adding that so there was no need to exchange views with the ward leaders.
Nurul Islam MP, also the senior vice-president of the unit, said they were not clear about the intension of the meeting adding that he would not join the meeting as neither the unit president nor any other leader had informed him about it.
Khorshed Alam Sujan, a joint secretary of the unit known as loyal to Mohiuddin, said the decision to exchange views with the ward leader centering nomination was taken at an extended meeting so there was no need to invite anyone separately.
“There is no reason of misunderstanding centering the meeting,” he said, adding that they had convened the meeting with an aim to convey the views of the ward leaders to prime minister as they would not be able to join the meeting in Dhaka.
Another leader of Mohiuddin faction, preferring anonymity, said the two lawmakers were not willing to attend the meeting fearing criticism from root-level leaders.
Mohiuddin’s relations with his long-term aide Afsarul soured a few months after the AL has assumed power prompting the latter to join hands with Islam and organise programmes of the party separately in the port city.
The feuds intensified further when show-cause notices were served to Islam, Afsarul, city unit joint secretary Ibrahim Hossain Babul and its treasurer Abdus Salam on January 17, 2011 for holding a rally at Laldighi Maidan.
Islam and his followers did not reply to the show-cause notices rather demanded removal of Mohiuddin and AL’s city unit General Secretary Kazi Enamul Hoque Danu.
Later, Mohiuddin and Danu sought intervention of prime minister, also the party chief, in settling the issue.
