Bablu is back as Jatiya Party secretary general as predecessor Ranga protests

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader has made Cochairman Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu secretary general again, replacing Mashiur Rahman Ranga.

Ranga has protested the “undemocratic” decision, while other leaders say they do not know the reason behind the change.

Sunil Shuvo Roy, a presidium member and the chairman’s press secretary, said the party announced the decision on Sunday afternoon. “I don’t know why,” he added.

Another cochairman, Syed Abu Hossain Babla, also said he did not what prompted Quader to make the move.

Quader did not take calls from bdnews24.com for comment.

The party’s constitution has given the chairman the powers to change secretary general. Its founder and Quader’s late brother HM Ershad had used the provision seven times in 35 years to change secretary general through notices.

In 2014, Ershad made Bablu secretary general by replacing ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader. Bablu, the husband of Ershad’s niece, lost the post again to Howlader in 2016.

When Howlader faced allegations of taking money from aspirants before the parliamentary elections in 2018, Ershad replaced him with Ranga.

After Ershad’s death, his wife Raushon Ershad announced a committee with Ranga as the secretary general in a longstanding dispute with Quader.

Ranga retained the post in a party council six month ago when Quader and Raushon settled the issue.

Ranga, a former state minister, has faced criticisms in the political arena, even within his party, recently for controversial comments on the party’s past activities and the current Awami League government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.

He also reportedly said he had no problem if Ershad’s former wife Bidisha Siddique joined politics amid her dispute with Quader.

“The chairman’s decision is undemocratic, but I am accepting it. It is undemocratic because he brought the change unilaterally without calling a meeting of the presidium even after I was elected secretary general for three years in the last council,” Ranga told bdnews24.com.

He also said party leaders and workers want to repeal the provision that empowers the chairman to bring any change in the party.