AL Defeat in Rajshahi UP Polls
Party lawmakers blamed
Failure of ruling Awami League (AL) backed candidates to gain majority in the just concluded Union Parishad (UP) elections in Rajshahi was mainly due to ignorance of AL lawmakers to consider grassroots opinion in selecting the candidates, said party insiders.
Some AL leaders alleged it was only money, handed to the lawmakers, that was considered in giving the nominations.
Though the elections were not between the political parties, the majority of the chairman candidates were selected by the parties.
Out of 62 UP chairmen posts, pro-BNP candidates bagged the highest 40 seats while AL won 18 seats, Jamaat-e-Islami got three and an individual candidate won the last.
The district unit AL President Tajul Islam M Faruk described the failure as “normal and expected”, though AL won all six parliamentary seats two and a half years back in Rajshahi, known as the safe vote bank of BNP for long.
“Party lawmakers and their men nominated most of the candidates according to their whim, not following the political system of hearing from the grassroots,” he said, adding that there were some allegations of handing out bribes for nominations.
The district BNP President Nadim Mostafa said BNP would have won 20 percent more seats if AL had not occupied the vote centres, created obstacles and threatened voters in some unions.
Corruption in relief distribution and “work for money projects” by AL also contributed to their failure, he said, adding, “It is a silent signal for the ruling party and it shows the government's position among the rural people.”
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