BNF: An early debut

Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) has an MP within 2 months of it getting registered as a political party.

The party's Chief Coordinator Abul Kalam Azad has been declared the unofficial winner from a seat in Dhaka.

He got 43,585 votes in Sunday's election from Dhaka-17 constituency. His nearest rival was independent candidate MA Hannan Mridha who netted 4,046 votes.

The Election Commission (EC) cleared the BNF to contest polls on Nov 18 last year.

The party had created quite a fuss since its inception.

The party, 'inspired by the ideology of Ziaur Rahman', had pled to the EC for the polls symbol sheaf of wheat, somewhat resembling BNP's sheaf of paddy.

The BNP had called upon the EC not to register the party citing almost similar party flags, using its founder Ziaur Rahman's picture in posters as well as the 19-point charter formulated by the former President.

Several BNP leaders including Khaleda Zia had said that the BNF was a created by 'conspiracy'.

The BNP chief also warned that the EC will be not spared if the BNF gets a go ahead.

File Photo

Former BNP Vice Chairman barrister Nazmul Huda was at the helm of BNF at the beginning.

Amid the controversy over its registration, Huda announced the party defunct on Sep 23 and stepped down as the head of BNF.

Abul Kalam Azad later joined the BNF and took over as its Chief Coordinator.

A total of 40 political parties are now registered with the EC, and eligible to contest polls.

The move to register political parties started in 2008 when 39 got the green signal.

Another political party, 'Bangladesh Shangshkriti Muktijot' got EC's registration before the BNF ahead the 10th National Election.

Meanwhile, a High Court ruling declared Jamaat-e-Islami's registration illegal as the party's article of association was not in consonance with the Constitution.