‘No comments now’, says Sayeed Khokon after AL nomination snub

Dhaka South Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon has declined to comment on the Awami League ignoring him and picking Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh for the race to his office.

The son of late Mohammad Hanif, the mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation, Khokon had sought the ruling party’s nomination for reelection along with contenders such as Taposh and Haji Mohammad Salim, among others.

But the party named Taposh to run for the mayor election to Dhaka South while it stuck with Mayor Atiqul Islam as its pick for Dhaka North on Sunday.

As the candidates sought support and vote from the media conference at party chief Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi offices where it announced the names, Khokon stayed home.

He visited neither the party offices nor did he go to his office at Dhaka South City Corporation’s headquarters, the Nagar Bhaban.

Asked for his reaction over phone, he told bdnews24.com: “No comments on this issue at this moment.”

The Awami League’s local government nomination board held a meeting chaired by party chief Sheikh Hasina at the Ganabhaban on Saturday, but did not announce the names immediately.

“The leader [Hasina] herself is checking with her sources. We’ve received reports from the intelligence agencies. So, it’s taking time to analyse everything,” General Secretary Obaidul Quader said after the meeting.

After announcing the names of the candidates on Sunday, Quader did not specify the reason behind ignoring Khokon.

He said Hasina made the decision on agreement between the members of the nomination board, who reviewed the popularity and acceptance of the aspirants. “There’s nothing much to say about it,” Quader said.

There had been speculations that Khokon, who came under heavy criticism after the outbreak of dengue fever earlier this year, is not going to get the nomination for reelection.

He had cried while collecting the party’s nomination forms last week, saying he had been passing “a difficult time” in politics.