Bodi's wife, Rana's father to get Awami League tickets

The Awami League is shunning Abdur Rahman Bodi and Amanur Rahman Khan Rana, two members of parliament from the ruling party.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the two would be denied nominations for the election this time despite their 'popularity’.

The nomination, however, remains in their families: Bodi's wife Shahina Akhter Chowdhury will get the ticket for Cox's Bazar-4 seat (Teknaf-Ukhiya) and Rana's father Ataur Rahman will win the AL ticket for Tangail-3 (Ghatail).

Reporters on Tuesday drew Quader's attention to the news of some ministers and MPs missing the nomination this time.

"Who is a bad person? How do you measure it? I can mention two seats where the present MPs have created some controversy: one is Ukhia Teknaf where Bodi is being dropped and his wife is getting the nomination," he said.

“Does everyone in a family become a criminal? Is there any proof of the controversy about Bodi? Still, we opted for an alternative due to the controversy,” Quader said when asked why the family members of the controversial MPs are getting nominated.

Quader also said Ghatail MP Rana has been dropped from the nomination list too.

“Rana is now in prison in a murder case. Both Rana and Bodi have scored well in a survey. Rana's father Ataur Rahman, president of the district Awami League, is being nominated.”

Bodi became a parliament member on the Awami League ticket in 2008. Later, he grabbed headlines when he was named as a drug trafficker on the government’s antinarcotics list, though it did not prevent him from getting an AL ticket for the second time in 2014.

A Dhaka court jailed the ruling party MP for three years in a corruption case in 2016. The case later moved to the High Court with its trial pending.

AL leader in Tangail Amanur Rahman Khan Rana, on the other hand, is accused in the murder of freedom fighter Farook Ahmed.

Rana, a member of the Khan family having influence over the politics in Tangail, contested the bypolls in 2012 from Ghatail seat as an independent candidate when he failed to bag the AL nomination.

The Awami League expelled him from the party for that reason only to welcome him back to the party when he won the election. He was elected MP uncontested again in the 2014 election.

The AL leader has been named in murder and dozens of other criminal cases filed in different times.