Awami League stalwarts face tight races

The Awami League is hoping to win a third term in government, but some of its most prominent leaders face tight races.

General Secretary Obaidul Quader, senior leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Kazi Zafar Ullah, Ramesh Chandra Sen and Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir are among the 'prominent' leaders.

It will be a tough competition for these leaders in the upcoming polls, believe experts and Awami League leaders.

"We are a bit worried about some of our heavyweights. Some are at risk,” a central leader of the Awami League told bdnews24.com on the condition of anonymity.

But they can overcome the situation if the voters turn out for Awami League leaders and Sheikh Hasina, he said.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader is contesting the 11th national election from the Noakhali-5 seat, facing BNP leader Moudud Ahmed.

Both of them have won the seat -- Moudud in 1991, 2001 and Quader in 1996 and 2008.

In 2008, Quader won it bagging only 1,371 more votes than Moudud.

A candidate from the Jatiya Party is vying for the same seat. Also, Jamaat-e-Islami will provide more votes to Moudud as they cannot field their own candidate, said locals.

Moudud is hopeful of winning the election in these circumstances as his wins have always been by a significant margin.

Quader, on the other hand, is also hopeful of winning.

"I haven't witnessed such a large number before, not even in 2008," Quader said about the turnout during his election campaign.

Awami League Advisory Committee member Amir Hossain Amu and his rival Zeba Amin from the BNP are competing for the Jhalakathi-2 seat.

Amu has a poor record in the election, losing polls in 1979, 1986, 1991 and 1996. He only won from the seat during the bi-election in 1996.

However, he won the 2008 election after defeating BNP candidate Ishrat Sultana by a margin of 73,853 votes.

A Jatiya Party candidate for the same seat is also likely to cost Amu votes.

Awami League Presidium member Kazi Zafar Ullah is vying for the Faridpur-4 seat which he won in 2001 and his wife Nilofer won in 2008.

But he lost it in 2014 to Mujibur Rahman Nixon, an independent candidate, and a relative of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Nixon is again contesting the election as an independent candidate and may repeat history, according to the locals.

Even then Zafar Ullah hopes to win the election.

"There was no other candidate in 2014 from other parties. Nixon had won the election last time using his connection to the family of Bangabandhu. I hope the supporters of boat will only vote for the boat symbol and I will win,” he told bdnews24.com.

However, Zafar Ullah has filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the supporters of Nixon for threatening him.

Awami League Presidium member Ramesh Chandra Sen faces BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in the Thakurgaon-1 race.

Ramesh defeated Mirza Fakhrul in the 2008 election bagging 177,101 votes but had lost to Fakhrul in 2001 by 96,948 votes.

It will be hard for Sen to compete with Fakhrul’s popularity since the imprisonment of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Awami League candidate and former Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir may lose his Chandpur-1 race because of the Jatiya Party candidate.

Alamgir lost the seat to BNP leader Ehsanul Haque Milon in 2001. But he won the seat in the following election.

The BNP has chosen Mosharraf Hossain from the same constituency, which has agitated the supporters of Milon and may give the upper hand to Alamgir. But Jatiya Party candidate Emdadul Haque will eat into Alamgir’s share of the vote.

Salman F Rahman, the private sector adviser to the Awami League chief, is facing a big challenge from Salma Islam, the present MP from Dhaka-1.

Though Awami League leader Abdul Mannan won the seat in 2008, he lost it to the Jatiya Party’s Salma in the 2014 election, which the BNP had boycotted.

Salma, the wife of the Jamuna Group owner Nurul Islam Babul, has not been nominated by the Jatiya Party but is contesting as an independent candidate. Salman has never won an election, leading to a close race between the two.

Rail Minister Mujibul Haque is vying for the seat Cumilla-11 which is unlikely to be a cake-walk. Mujibul won the seat in 1996 as the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami had contested the election separately. He had lost the seat in other elections.

Mujibul, who won the seat in 2014, faces his old rival Syed Abdullah Muhammed Taher as his main opponent this time. Taher is contesting the election with the paddy sheaf symbol instead of the Jamaat’s scales.

Though his party Jamaat-e-Islami lost its registration, the locals believe Taher remains popular in the constituency. He won the 2001 election with double the votes of Mujibul. But in 2008, Mujibul got 101,201 votes compared to Taher’s 77,924.

Khair Ahmed Bhuiyan, who is competing with the Jatiya Party’s plough symbol, poses more risk to Mujibul.

Former Foreign Minister Dipu Moni is contesting the Chandpur-3 seat with the boat symbol and faces Sheikh Farid Ahmed Manik from the Jatiya Oikya Front using the paddy sheaf symbol.

Dipu Moni had won consecutive elections to the seat but faced strong competition within her party for the nomination. She settled the internal feud and bagged the boat nomination, but still has to face the challenge of the coming election.

State Minister for Water Resources Nazrul Islam Hiru is vying for the Narsingdi-1 seat, which is known as a BNP stronghold. The BNP has chosen Khairul Kabir Khokon for the seat.

Hiru gained victory for the Awami League in 2008 with a slim margin of 17,000 votes.

Jatiya Party candidate Shafiqul Islam, who has always received about 10-15,000 votes in every election he has competed in poses a significant threat to Hiru.

Awami League candidate Deputy Minister Abdullah Al Islam Jakob battles the BNP’s Nazim Uddin over the Bhola-4 seat.

In 2008, Jakob defeated Nazim Uddin, an MP elected multiple times, by 134,831 votes. He lost it to Nazim in 2001 after getting 51,936 votes compared to Nazim’s 94,226.

The Awami League candidate for the Magura-2 seat, State Minister for Youth and Sports Biren Sikder, will confront tough competition from the BNP’s Nitai Roy Chowdhury. In the 2008 election, Sikder won by a lead of only 5,000 votes.

Awami League’s Organising Secretary Abu Sayeed Al Mahmood Swapon is facing BNP leader Abu Yusuf Khalilur Rahman for the Joypurhat-2 seat.  The BNP candidate had won the seat three times.

Swapon lost the seat to BNP’s Golam Mostafa in 2008. He won the election for the first time in 2014, when the BNP and other parties boycotted the election.

Swapon is exposed to risk as Khalilur has returned as the BNP candidate and Jatiya Party candidate Abul Kashem is also vying for the seat.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said he hopes the Awami League can take the tight races thanks to his development efforts.