Jatiya Party lawmaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed represents his party in the National Parliament from the Thakurgaon constituency-3.
The constituency encompasses Pirganj Upazila, Ranisankail Municipality, and six union parishads of Ranisankail Upazila.
The constituency was created in 1984 from the Dinajpur-5 constituency when the former Dinajpur district was split into three districts: Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, and Dinajpur.
Muhammad Shahidullah, a candidate of Communist Party of Bangladesh became the first Member of Parliament of the constituency in the general elections in 1986.
Later, Jatiya Party candidate Hafiz Uddin Ahmed contested the national polls in 1988 and won the seat, and Awami League candidate MdMokhlesur Rahman in 1991.
Abdul Malek, a BNP candidate contested the national polls in February in 1996 and won the seat but Awami League candidate EmdadulHaque regained the constituency in 1996.
IslamiJatiyaOikya Front candidate Hafiz Uddin Ahmed became MP in 2001.
Later Hafiz Uddin Ahmed contested the general elections 2008 from the Jatiya Party and won the seat. Yeasin Ali, a candidate of Workers Party of Bangladesh contested the general elections in 2014 and won the seat, and BNP candidate Jahidur Rahman in 2018.
When BNP lawmaker Jahidur Rahman resigned from the National Parliament, the Thakurgaon constituency-3 fell vacant.
The Election Commission held by-polls to the parliamentary seat in February this year.
Jatiya Party candidate Hafiz Uddin Ahmed won the Thakurgaon-3 by-elections while the Awami League-backed 14-party alliance candidate, Workers' Party leader Yeasin Ali, suffered a huge defeat.
Therefore, a tripartite election battle among Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party is likely to occur in the constituency in the next general elections.
Local leaders of Awami League are currently very active in the constituency while nomination seekers from Jatiya Party, the Workers’ Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh and BNP are also getting prepared ahead of the 12th general election.
Jamaat-e-Islami has previously had a significant presence in Thakurgaon, but the party has become less active.
BNP has only won twice in this constituency, in the 1996 and 2018 elections.
However, the party has made some notable progress in its bid to contest in the next election.
The area is home to around 300,000 voters.
Three parties – Awami League, Jatiya Party and BNP – could engage in a tripartite election battle in Thakurgaon 3 constituency.
The previous local government elections indicate that the BNP has gradually strengthened and reorganized itself.
Workers Party candidates became lawmakers in this constituency twice by allying themselves with Awami League.
According to data from the Election Commission, in general elections from 1986 to 2014, Awami League won only twice in Thakurgaon 3—while candidates from other parties won six times.
For this reason, Awami League has a habit of giving away the seat to selected party members of their alliance.
Awami League has not nominated candidates for Thakurgaon 3 constituency for the past 23 years.
Ruling leaders and activists are holding rallies and meetings and demanding that an Awami League aspirant be nominated.
Earlier, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina asked people to vote for the boat symbol in all three Thakurgaon constituencies.
Prospective candidates of Awami League, BNP, Jatiya Party, and the Workers’ Party have already launched their campaigns for nominations.
Awami League has multiple aspirants; but BNP, Jatiya Party, and Workers Party have only one each.
However, the Awami League aspirants are actively engaged in electioneering to contest in the upcoming polls.
EmdadulHaque former Awami League lawmaker and Senior Vice-President of Thakurgaon district unit of Awami League, Selina Jahan Lita, Vice-President of Thakurgaon district unit of Awami League and former MP of reserved seats for women and Rabiul Islam Robi, a former central leader of Awami League’s sub-committee are scrambling for the party ticket to run for the constituency in the next general election that would be held in the first week of January 2024.
The race for nomination has garnered significant hype as the aspirants believe if they get a party ticket they will win the polls.
Talking to journalists, EmdadulHaque said no significant development took so long due to the lack of eligible lawmakers here.
“Therefore, conscious people here think there needs to be change in that area. If the Awami League high command picks me up as candidate for the next general election, I will contest and win as well,” he said.
However, the expected level of election excitement, which should have been witnessed by this time, is still missing as all the political parties are still not there in the field with their full strength.
Although the BNP is yet to make a decision to join the next parliamentary elections, BNP leaders are silently making preparations for the polls.
The BNP leaders and workers are contacting people about the elections and looking for a way to participate in the elections.
On the other hand, Jahidur Rahman, former BNP lawmaker and President of Pirganj Upazila unit of BNP, talking to reporters, said if his party joins polls, he will get nomination to contest the constituency.
“If my party gives me a nomination, I’m confident I will win again,” he said.
Incumbent Jatiya Party lawmaker Hafiz Uddin told journalists that he has been working for the development of the constituency since long.
“I believe my party will nominate me for this constituency. I will contest the next general elections and win the seat again,” he added.
Talking to reporters Yeasin Ali, former lawmaker and a member of Workers Party of Bangladesh said he will seek nomination to contest the next polls.
Apart from Yeasin Ali, Tajul Islam, Presidium Member of Thakurgaon district unit of Workers Party of Bangladesh, also wants to seek party nomination.
“I’m travelling across the constituency in order to work for the people of this constituency. I will seek my party nomination this time to contest the polls. People of this constituency love me and they want to see me as an MP,” he added.
