Awami League waiting for BNP list

The Awami League will finalise the list of its candidates for the parliamentary elections after seeing its rival the BNP’s strategy, Obaidul Quader has said.

The ruling party distributed among its candidates letters confirming initial nomination on Sunday while the BNP started the process on Monday.

The Awami League will contest in the election as part of the Grand Alliance while the BNP is in both the 20-Party alliance and the newly formed Jatiya Oikya Front led by Dr Kamal Hossain.

After the distribution of initial nomination letters started on Sunday, the Awami League general secretary said they would publish a final list on Monday.

“We are not publishing the list of candidates of the alliance today for technical and strategic reasons. We will publish it after more scrutiny,” Quader said on Monday.

He earlier said that the ruling party would leave 65 to 70 seats to its allies, including the Jatiya Party, which became the main opposition in parliament after the 2014 elections boycotted by the BNP.

Asked if the Awami League is not publishing the list fearing that the BNP will stay away from the election again, Quader said, “No, we are not thinking this way. But we must see our opponents’ strategy.

“We don't want to be outsmarted tactically.”

He said the ruling party will also conduct more surveys to assess popularity of the candidates who were initially selected for the same seats.

“Overall, we will announce the names of the Grand Alliance candidates formally following consensus,” he added.

He criticised the media for publicising the names of the candidates who have received initial nomination.

“Many TV and print media published names of candidates who have not been nominated. I urge them to spare us of the embarrassment,” Quader said.

He said they dropped Cox’s Bazar MP Abdur Rahman Bodi and Tangail’s Amanur Rahman Khan Rana from the race due to controversies surrounding the Awami League leaders even though “surveys suggest they are more popular than other candidates”.

Bodi is criticised for his alleged involvement in smuggling of the drug yaba from Myanmar. His wife Shahina Akhter Chowdhury is getting the ticket for Cox's Bazar-4 seat (Teknaf-Ukhiya), Quader had said earlier.

Rana is behind bars on murder charges. His father Ataur Rahman will win the AL ticket for Tangail-3 (Ghatail), according to the initial nomination.

“What’s the fault of Bodi’s wife? Will Bodi’s wife be held accountable for his crimes? No,” Quader said.   

“Rana’s father is a vice-president of the Awami League’s Tangail district unit. And the murder charges against Rana are yet to be proved. We could have nominated him even in this situation, but we haven’t because of the controversy,” he added.     

The Awami League leader also cautioned the nomination aspirants against contesting as rebel candidates.

Such candidates will be expelled by the party forever, he warned.

Source: bdnews24