S A Shofiee, Sylhet :
The major political party, BNP is keen to regain the prestigious Sylhet-1 Constituency in the next general election scheduled to next February while the main political contender Jamaat-e-Islam is its highest efforts to win there, political sources said.
The seat consists of Sylhet City Corporation and Sadar Upazila. There are about seven lakh voters.
This seat is called the vote bank of BNP. There is a myth that whoever wins the Sylhet-1 seat, the government owns it.
For this reason, political parties prepare candidates in advance for this seat. VVIP candidates are nominated.
Around whom Sylhet’s politics and development revolve. The candidate who wins this seat also gets a place in the cabinet. As a result, everyone’s eyes are on this seat.
Many famous Bagha-Bagha politicians have their eyes on this seat. Even then, many are not lucky enough to get a ticket for the seat.
Political parties have already started announcing candidates for this seat around the upcoming national elections.
So far, all political parties except BNP have announced their candidates.
BNP leaders said that the BNP candidate for this seat is Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, advisor to the chairperson.
Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, who was a candidate for the 2018 election in this seat, is roaming the voting ground day and night.
In the meantime, he has started his election campaign in favor of paddy sheesh in Sylhet by visiting the shrine of Olikul Shiromani Hazrat Shahjalal (R.).
The BNP leaders and activists of this seat are mainly excited around him. Khandaker Abdul Muktadir’s father, Khandaker Abdul Malik, one of the founders of BNP, was also an MP for this seat.
As a result, Khandaker Abdul Muktadir is known in Sylhet through family sources.
In the meantime, he has started planning the election plan with BNP leaders and activists by forming regional committees in the city and the capital. Voters’ focus has also increased on him.
The Jamaat-e-Islam candidate for this seat is District Ameer Maulana Habibur Rahman.
He is a familiar face to the people of Sylhet region. In the previous elections, he was in the field of voting in Sylhet-6 constituency in his own area.
This time, he has become a candidate for Sylhet Sadar constituency on the party’s decision. As a candidate, he himself is very active in the field of voting. The enthusiasm of Jamaat leaders and activists has been seen surrounding him.
The party leaders said that they have nominated a qualified candidate for Sylhet-1 constituency. The people of Sylhet are welcoming him.
Along with campaigning on the streets, they are going door to door to deliver the invitation of the party symbol, the scales.
They said that their votes are increasing in Sylhet. They are getting a response from the people wherever they go in the advance campaign.
Meanwhile, in Sylhet-1 constituency, Maulana Abdul Malik Chowdhury, the party’s central joint secretary general from Jamiat, Maulana Tajul Islam, senior leader from Khelafat Majlis, Principal Fakhrul Islam, the party’s Sylhet district general secretary from Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, and Mufti Faizul Haque Jalalabadi are candidates from a section of the Islamic Movement.
The voting field in Sylhet is mainly filled by potential BNP and Jamaat candidates.
In their initial campaign, there is no one even close to the public gathering. Voters are also more interested in BNP candidates. Jamaat’s candidate is in second place in the campaign.
His workers are reaching out to the educated population and minority voters of the city.
