HM Ershad’s advisor Boby Hajjaj to contest for the post of Dhaka North Mayor

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad’s Special Advisor Bobby Hajjaj has said that he is joining the mayoral race in the upcoming Dhaka North City Corporation polls.

His announcement comes despite the party’s decision to back its Dhaka Metropolitan Unit (North) General Secretary Bahauddin Ahmed Babul for the mayoral post.

“I announce my candidature as an independent candidate,” Hajjaj, the son of business tycoon Musa Bin Shamser, told a media briefing on Saturday.

Asked about Jatiya Party’s support for Babul, he said: “I cannot defy the party. Ershad is like a father to me.

“I don’t want any feud within the party on this. I am an independent candidate. I urge the party activists to support and cooperate with me only if they think I am eligible as a mayor.”

Hajjaj hogged the spotlight last year, when HM Ershad was taken to hospital amid RAB escort ahead of the tenth national election.

He had then appeared before the media, claiming himself as the party’s spokesperson. But he left for the UK a few days later.

Hajjaj, who studied in the US and UK, taught at a private university in Bangladesh for some time.

He stepped into politics by getting involved in the Jatiya Party’s Research and Strategic Analysis Wing in 2013. The same year, he was appointed as an advisor to the Jatiya Party Chairman.

Replying a query on whether HM Ershad approved his announcement, Hajjaj said, “His blessings are always with me...this is a local government election. I will meet him very soon to take his blessings. I don’t do anything without his blessings.”