AL, BNP still struggling for single candidate for councillors in Ctg

Though the deadline for withdrawal of candidacy passed on April 9, both Awami League and BNP are trying to have a single councillor candidate for each ward by asking some to abandon campaigns ahead of the April 28 Chittagong City Corporation election.

However, like before their efforts may not see success when candidates aligned with the ruling party are dreaming of easy wins, party high-ups are failing to give unanimous decisions, and some aspirants are worried about their image in case of belated withdrawal.

Leaders of both parties say one candidate for one ward means better prospects of victory of party-backed people.

In north Patenga (Ward 40), there are still two candidates affiliated with AL, even after two other AL leaders, Hazi Shafiq Ahmed and Jainal Abedin Chowdhury, declared withdrawal from the race through newspaper advertisements on Tuesday.

Both Abdul Barek and Hazi Jainal Abedin, now in the race, said they had got party blessings.

"The president of Chittagong city AL ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury has endorsed me," said Barek, while Hazi Jainal Abedin claimed that he won support of AL lawmaker MA Latif.

In a survey in 37 out of the total 41 wards, The Daily Star found that AL has single candidates only in four wards, while BNP has got 15 single candidates.

There are as many as seven candidates from the same party in one ward.

"...we are trying to have single candidates in the rest of the wards," Chittagong city BNP President Ameer Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury told The Daily Star.

AL Chittagong south district President Moslem Uddin Ahmed said they were persuading some candidates to abandon campaigns and work for the mayor candidate.

In Jamal Khan area (Ward 21), three ruling party leaders are in the race. One of them, Bijay Kumar Chowdhury, said the party leaders had asked them to talk to each other. "I was interested to sit down with others but they were reluctant," he said.

His party rival Shaibal Das Suman, however, said he was asked to have discussion only two days ago. "But I was not in the city then… Moreover, I am at the peak of my campaign, and it is not possible to go silent now," he said. "If I do, it will hurt my image; People will think I took benefits from my rivals."

The third AL-affiliated candidate in the ward, MA Naser, said Bijay contacted him for discussion but he turned him down. "Why will I talk to him?.... I'm well ahead of them," Naser said.