<i>Uncle,nephew lock horns in Sherpur-3</i>

24 December 2008, 18:00 PM

Debashish Saha Roy, Sherpur

All eyes are now riveted on Sherpur-3 (Sreebardi-Jhenaigati) seat as two members of the same family have been contesting with tickets of the two major alliances. Awami League nominee AKM Fazlul Haq alias Chan Engineer is facing his nephew BNP candidate former MP Mahmudul Haq Rubel. Local people think fight between the uncle and nephew would make a chance for independent candidate Khandker Khurram. Awami League could not win the seat for 21 years from 1975. AL candidate MA Bari won the seat in June 12, 1996 election. In 2001 BNP candidate former lawmaker Dr Serajul Haq's son young Mahmudul Haq Rubel defeated MA Bari. Anticorruption Commission listed former lawmaker Mahmudul Haq Rubel as a top corrupt person in Sherpur district. Joint forces arrested him from his residence in Dhaka's Kafrul area on March 18, 2007. He spent about one and a half year in Sherpur district jail and got released on bail through High Court order in September this year. In his affidavit submitted with the nomination paper Rubel said proceedings of the three cases filed against him have been suspended by the High Court. Local people say as both the AL and BNP candidates are from same family and Sreebardi upazila, the votes of the upazila would get divided. As a result the voters of Jhenaigati upazila would a factor in deciding the winner in the seat. In this regard independent candidate Khurram has an advantage. Grand Alliance candidate Fazlul Haq Chan Engineer told The Daily Star that he took voluntary retirement from government job and have been involved with Awami League politics for more than one decade. He expressed his firm determination of winning. BNP-led four party alliance nominee Mahmudul Haq Rubel said, as an MP he did lots of development work and created jobs for unemployed youths. Independent candidate Khandker Mohammad Khurram said, he has been involved with politics since student life and has been serving the people. He hopes that the people of his constituency will evaluate it and vote for him.