At least three prominent Awami League politicians lost and several dark horses won the polls in the 10th general elections. Also notable was the first ever defeat of deposed military dictator HM Ershad.
Awami League presidium member Kazi Jafar Ullah, former state minister Abdul Mannan Khan and Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin were defeated by Awami League rebel Mojibur Rahman Chowdhury, Jatiya Party candidate Salma Ahmed and another Awami League rebel Haji Mohammad Selim respectively.
On the other hand, little known political figures BNF chief Abul Kalam Azad and Tarikat Federation chief Syed Nojibul Basar Maijbhandari defeated their opponents by a big margin.
In Lalmonirhat 1, Jatiya Party chief Ershad was defeated by Awami League candidate and former minister Motahar Hossain by more than one lakh votes. Ershad has never before been defeated in any polls. Even when he was in jail he won in all five of his seats in the 1991 elections.
Ershad declared he would boycott the polls but his withdrawal application was rejected. He bagged only 5,381 votes and became third among the three contenders while Motahar bagged 179,814 votes.
In Faridpur 4, Kazi Jafar Ullah, a close aide to Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, was defeated by independent candidate Mojibur Rahman Chowdhury Nixon by 26,082 votes. Nixon Chowdhury, whose name has come up frequently in the Padma Bridge graft, is a relative of Hasina. The prime minister herself had campaigned for Jafar Ullah.
In Dhaka 1, JaPa candidate Salma Islam, wife of business tycoon Nurul Islam Babul, defeated former state minister Abdul Mannan Khan by 5,700 votes. Salma bagged 54,031 votes while Mannan secured 48,331 votes.
Haji Selim, former Awami League MP and a joint secretary of the party’s Dhaka city unit, defeated the Awami League nominated candidate Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin by 11,995 votes. Selim fought the voting battle as an independent candidate.
In Dhaka 17, BNF, the party that got the Election Commission’s registration at the last moment after much debacle, won the elections defeating independent candidate MA Hannan Mridha by 39,539 votes. Azad bagged 43,585 votes while Hannan bagged 4,046 votes.
In Chittagong 2, Nojibul Basar Maijbhandari defeated independent candidate Mahmud Hasan by a large margin of 112,918 votes. Maijbhandari fought with the Awami League party symbol boat.
In Manikganj 1, Awami League candidate cricketer Naimur Rahman Durjoy and in Netrakona 2 constituency footballer Arif Khan Joy won the elections for the first time as Awami League candidates.
