Raushon meets Hasina, complains about ‘unfair treatment’ by GM Quader in Jatiya Party dispute

The followers of Raushon urge the prime minister to talk to them first if the Awami League shares seats with the Jatiya Party

Jatiya Party Chief Patron Raushon Ershad has met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and reported to her the “unfair treatment” by Chairman GM Quader over the share of seats in the parliamentary polls.

Raushon’s son Rahgir Al Mahi aka Shad Ershad and former party secretary general Moshiur Rahman Ranga, among others, accompanied the leader of the opposition in parliament at the Ganabhaban meeting on Tuesday.

Internal strife is a longstanding issue within the party and the discord over leadership started to peak after the death of founder HM Ershad in 2019.

His wife Raushon and brother Quader have time and again made it clear that they want more control than the other.

After the schedule of the general election was announced, Raushon wrote to the Election Commission that they were willing to contest in the election under an alliance.

But Quader’s letter to the EC made no mention of a coalition.

Raushon was also always positive about joining the race under the Hasina-led Awami League government, but she and her followers decided not to enter the race with only a few seats allocated for them by the GM Quader-led faction.

Ranga said Raushon and many other “tested” leaders were denied election nominations and “hundreds of leaders and activists” were suspended from the party.

The Quader-led faction even “insulted” Ranga’s daughter when they went to them to seek nomination, Ranga said.

“Now the question is if Shad, Raushon and I do not get nominations, with whom are they [Quader-led faction] going to run in the election?"