SA Shofiee, Sylhet:
The electoral field of Sylhet-3 constituency is now bustling with candidates from cities to villages. They are going door to door to people. They are promising development in the constituency. They are attending various social and religious gatherings.
This constituency, which consists of three upazilas – South Surma upazila near Sylhet city, Fenchuganj, the country’s largest fertilizer and gas production factory, and Balaganj, known for its Shital Pati and inhabited by expatriates, was the last to be nominated in the BNP’s primary list by UK BNP President and BNP Chairperson’s Advisor MA Malik. The heavyweight candidate in this constituency was District BNP President Abdul Qayyum Chowdhury. Another candidate for this seat, Barrister MA Salam, the International Affairs Secretary of BNP, has also been active in the field for a long time.
A BNP source said that the primary nominee for Sylhet-3 constituency is MA Malik, the president of UK BNP and adviser to the BNP Chairperson. He is known to be a close friend of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman. After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5 last year, he returned to the country and became active in local politics.
According to BNP sources, MA Malek, who is an expatriate in the UK, returned to the country on October 17 after a long 19 years. At that time, he stayed in his village Tetli of South Surma Upazila and participated in some meetings and gatherings in three upazilas of the constituency and left the country after a few days. Later, he came to the country several more times. After returning to the country, he regularly participated in meetings and gatherings.
Although his followers expressed excitement after the announcement of MA Malik as a candidate, several local BNP leaders who did not want to be named said that MA Malik is relatively isolated because he has been out of the country for a long time. Many are surprised by his candidacy. Many cannot accept it. Discussions are going on inside and outside the party about this.
However, since he has contacts in the high-level of the party, many are not reacting publicly on this issue for fear of organizational punishment. Till the time of writing this report, the issue of reconsidering the BNP candidate in this seat is being loudly raised. In this situation, if all the leaders of the BNP who were deprived of nomination do not unite, BNP’s victory in this seat will be very difficult.
Jamaat-e-Islami has earlier announced Maulana Lokman Ahmed, former chairman of Dakshin Surma Upazila Parishad, as the party’s sole candidate in this seat. He is also spending his busy time in various social, political, and rallies. In addition to party influence and involvement in the transport sector in Dakshin Surma, Lokman has a huge vote bank as an individual. Moreover, due to the presence of Jamaat Upazila Chairman for a long time in South Surma and Fenchuganj Upazilas, the party’s own vote bank and public support have increased a lot from before, which will stand in the way of the BNP candidate’s victory in the next election.
Among the Islamic parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s Central Minority Affairs Secretary Maulana Nazrul Islam, Khelafat Majlis’s Maulana Dilwar Hossain, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis’s Maulana Lutfur Rahman Qasemi and Islami Andolon’s Maulana Rezaul Haque Chowdhury Raju are working in the field as candidates of their respective parties. In addition, the name of Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) central member Nurul Huda Junaid is being discussed as a possible candidate.
