Sunamganj-3 vibrant with last-minute rallies

The bypolls will be held on Wednesday. The Jataiya Sangsad seat fell vacant following the death of Awami League stalwart Abdus Samad Azad on April 27.

Remote villages in low-lying Jagannathpur and South Sunamganj upazilas are now vibrant with rallies, microphones blaring on roads and posters hung across streets and pasted on walls.

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Rural markets are experiencing a rare phenomenon in monsoon. Shops remain open beyond midnight as campaigners draw crowds. But boat is the only means of communication now, which makes campaign a bit costly for candidates and their men.

Campaigners are spending money lavishly. Jagannathpur

upazila is considered a rich area with a good number of

expatriates in the UK and USA.

Shops selling cell phone cards are doing a brisk business as cell phones play an important role in the campaign, some shop owners told this correspondent.

Though there are nine candidates, four are front runners, local people and political circles say. They are four-party alliance candidate Moulana Shahinur Pasha Chowdhury who lost to AL stalwart Abdus Samad Azad in 2001 polls by 5636 votes,

former Additional Secretary of Election Commission MA

Mannan enjoying backing by an AL faction in the district, Nazrul Islam having blessings from the other faction of AL and Lt. Col. (retd) Syed Ali Ahmed of Jatiya Party (Ershad). Pasha is a leader of Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ), a component of the alliance.

Although AL, having a stronghold in the constituency, is boycotting the polls, two party men are front runners in the race. No national level AL leader came from Dhaka for campaign but all party leaders are involved in the hustings.

Shahinur Pasha drew the highest number of alliance bigwigs in the campaign. Prime Minister's Advisor for Parliamentary Affairs Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury addressed two rallies at Paglabazar in Sunamganj and at Jagannathpur upazila headquarters yesterday.

BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, along with several lawmakers and a Whip addressed several rallies on Wednesday.

Central Juba Dal President and Commerce Advisor Barkatullah Bulu also addressed a number of rallies on Thursday.

Moulana Fazlul Haque Aminee, Chairman of a faction of alliance component IOJ, will address rallies today. The alliance leaders are campaigning for Pasha on the back of what they continuation of development activities in the area.