Dhaka-12: Home Minister Kamal is canvassing, BNP’s Nirob silent

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the Awami League candidate for the Dhaka-12 constituency, is electioneering in earnest in the constituency but his BNP rival Saiful Alam Nirob has been conspicuously absent from the battleground.

Kamal was the elected MP for the Dhaka-11 constituency in the 2008 parliamentary elections.  In the absence of the BNP at the 2014 national polls, he won the Dhaka-12 seat uncontested. 

“I’ve heard from Awami League activists that the BNP candidate has hundreds of cases against him. I think the home minister will win easily,” said Borhan Uddin, a grocer in Green Road.

While the streets of Monipuriparha are filled with posters of the ‘boat’ candidate, the absence of Nirob from the field has been a major talking point among residents.

“It’s difficult enough for candidates to win votes even if they fall to the feet of voters,” ‘Sadik’, a college student, told 

bdnews24.com

“Who will vote for a candidate who doesn’t even take to the election field?” he asked.

Kamal Khan, another Monipuriparha resident, believes Nirob’s failure to campaign for the seat will not affect his chances of winning the seat.

“Voters don’t have cases hanging over their heads. Whether he takes the field or not, the BNP-Jamaat supporters will not cast their ballots for the Awami League. Even those who don’t like the Awami League will vote for the BNP,” he said.

The majority of areas in the Dhaka-12 constituency are covered solely by ‘boat’ posters.

“Nothing has come out of the talks on ensuring a level playing field in the elections. Instead, we have a one-sided affair,” Chief Coordinator of Ganasanghati Andolan Zonayed Saki, who himself is running for parliament from this seat, told bdnews24.com.

“We have faced a number of obstacles, our activists have been stopped from campaigning. Seven of my activists were beaten up and two of them have had their arms broken,” alleged Saki.

“We are in a place of terrible panic. We are fighting for a Bangladesh that is free of fear, which is why we are reminding people of their right to vote for qualified candidates and to cast their own ballots,” he added.