As the day of the upcoming Parliamentary Elections is nearing, many leaders from the ruling Awami League from four constituencies of Satkhira have started massive lobbying and counter-lobbying to bag nominations in their favour to contest as candidates in the elections. The voters of the constituencies have also started to speculate and discuss at the 'tea tables' of the local restaurants, markets and elsewhere about the possible candidates from the party.
However, the grassroots-level leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League want all candidates to be selected from the party not from the alliance. They opined, there is no alternative to the partisan candidate to continue the development activities.
Satkhira-1 constituency is formed with one Municipality and 24 unions of Tala and Kalaroa upazilas. Once upon a time, the constituency was known as the fortress of the Awami League. At least 15 candidates from the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP have now started their lobbying at the centre to get nominations from their respective parties in their favour.These candidates have already started to organise court-yard meetings to attract the attention of the common voters.
It is learnt, during the last two terms, one of the alliance candidates from the Workers Party was nominated to contest the elections. He was elected from the Satkhira-1 (Tala and the Kalaroa) constituency. Taking advantage of the absence of the Awami League in power in the constituency, the opposition party leaders from BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami have got enough time and opportunity to reorganise their party activities and BNP led alliance is now holding a strong position in the constituency.
Moreover, local Awami League leaders have claimed, the alliance-backed MP from the Workers Party have failed to make any development work in the constituency and failed to fulfil the desire of the local people. In the Local Government Elections, the candidates from the Awami League won in all seats of the Unions and the Municipalities. As a result, the grassroots-level leaders of the Awami League do not prefer the candidate from the alliance any more but they are seeking a candidate from the party. The voters of Tala and Kalaroa upazilas also think there is no alternative to party candidate for the constituency.
Meanwhile, no activities from BNP-led alliance leaders can still be noticed regarding the upcoming Parliamentary Elections. Some BNP leaders of the constituency opined if the party participate in the elections, they would work unitedly for the selected candidate from the party. The Jammat-e-Islami leaders and activists of the constituency are also secretly reorganising their party. They themselves have also selected a single candidate from the party to be nominated from the centre and to contest the elections. Moreover, some posters of independent candidates can also be seen beside various roads, markets and the residents of the areas.
The candidates who are likely to seek nomination from the ruling Awami League have been identified as: Vice-President of district Awami League Adv Mohammad Hossain, former MP Engineer Mujibar Rahman, President of Kalaroa Upazila AL Feroz Ahmed Swapon, President of Tala Upazila AL Sheikh Nurul Islam, Joint Secy of dist AL Syed Firoz Kamal Shuvro, Education and Human Resource Secy of dist AL Laila Parvin Shejuti, Organising Secy of dist AL Ataur Rahman, Central Presidium Member of Jubo League Rafiqul Islam and Upazila Chairman of Tala Upazila and Gen Secy of Tala Upazila AL Ghose Sanat Kumar.
Among others, former State Minister for Information, Central Member of Jatiya Party Syed Didar Bakth, Workers Party Politburo Member and incumbent Member of Parliament Mostafa Lutfullah, former MP Habibul Islam Habib's wife Adv Shahanara Parvin Bokul, BNP's Agriculture Affairs Secretary Sarder Mujib, Jammat-e-Islami Central leader Principal Mohammad Ijjat Ullah and the district President of JSD Shaikh Obayed Sultan Babul are also likely to seek nominations from the concerned party high ups.