‘Jubo Dal member’ named Awami League candidate in Patuakhali

Grassroots activists claim that a local Jubo Dal member has been selected as the Awami League candidate for the imminent union council election in Patuakhali’s Kalapara.

Local activists say that Shahzada Parvez alias Tinu, a nominee of Dhankhali union council election, is a Jubo Dal member.

Tinu’s father, Altaf Hossain, was a former president of the Dhankhali Ward-3 BNP.

Activists and supporters of the local Awami League have held a series of demonstrations to protest the nomination at the union, upazila and district level.

According to Dhankhali Jubo Dal President Sahin Molla, Tinu was a member of Union Jubo Dal Committee in 2004. He later went to Dhaka on business.

Tinu is listed as a member of the Ward-3 Jubo Dal Committee.

Patuakhali Jubo Dal Joint Convener Monirul Islam Liton says Tinu was an active member and his father was an influential local leader.

Md Riaz Uddin Talukder, youth and sports secretary of the union’s Awami League, told bdnews24.comthat grassroots leaders had voted 23-17 for him against Tinu, who had joined the local Shechchhasebok League.

Talukder claimed that Tinu had been selected after payments to district Shechchhasebok League General Secretary Ujjal Bose and Upazila Shechchhasebok League Chairman Firoz Sikdar.

“They submitted fake papers replacing my name,” he said.

District AL General Secretary Kazi Alamgir Hossain said “The central nomination board has chosen a candidate and we have nothing to say on the matter. A list of the candidates for the district’s seven union councils was made and sent to the central authority.”

“Six of the unions selected the candidate with the most votes, while Dhankhali was the only one to select the runner-up.”

He informed higher authorities in the party of the matter, he said.

“I think the situation should be investigated and a decision should be taken by higher authorities,” he said.

“Tinu was in second place with 17 votes,” said Kalapara Upazila Awami League General Secretary SM Raqibul Ahsan. “It was also mentioned he was a former Jubo League member and a member of a BNP family.”

“I cannot believe this was the party’s decision.”

But district Shechchhasebok League General Secretary Ujjal Bose said that Tinu became involved with the organisation in 2014 and that he was not a member of the BNP.

He dismissed claims he had been added to the party after a bribe.

“I cannot nominate anyone in exchange for a bribe. He was able to participate in the Trinamool vote because he was a member of the Shechchhasebok League.”

Tinu denied the claim he was a Jubo Dal leader and said he had joined the Shechchhasebok League in 2014. He had been in business prior to that, he said.

He did, however, admit his father had been a BNP leader.