Khondkar Delwar’s son in tears as BNP axes him from list of nominees

Late BNP secretary general Khondkar Delwar Hossain’s son Khondkar Abdul Hamid Dablu has been reduced to tears in anger and frustration on not finding his name on the final list of the party’s candidates for parliamentary elections.

Khondkar Abdul Hamid Dablu Khondkar Abdul Hamid Dablu

Dablu brought his sister Delwara Begum Panna and some supporters to the party chief’s Gulshan offices in Dhaka on Friday night after Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir unveiled the list of 206 candidates.

Security personnel stopped them at the gate when they sought to meet Mirza Fakhrul on the first floor.

Dablu’s angry supporters shouted slogans at the time, demanding their leader be allowed upstairs.

At one stage of the disturbance, Dablu broke into tears. Panna also cried.

Khondkar Abdul Hamid Dablu's supporters.

Dablu had submitted nomination papers for Manikganj-1 constituency, but the party has nominated SA Jinnah Kabir for the seat.

“I am angry about this nomination. Reformists have been nominated. It’s painful for those who bet their lives on the party,” Dablu said.  

“My father worked for this party until his death. And now the reformists have taken control of the Gulshan offices to end the politics of our leaders Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman,” he added.

Delwara Begum Panna (Left).

Khaleda sacked Abdul Mannan Bhuyian and appointed Delwar secretary general before she was arrested during the military-controlled caretaker government.

Delwar ran the party in her absence and also in tough times when the BNP was the opposition in parliament until his death in 2011.

His children waited until midnight to meet Mirza Fakhrul but failed.

Besides Dablu, the BNP has snubbed vice-chairpersons Selima Rahman and Shamsuzzaman Dudu, and former state minister ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon’s candidacy.