Fakhrul’s seat up for grabs as BNP considers new candidate

Bangla Press Desk:  The by-election race in Thakurgaon-1 has started taking shape after the seat fell vacant when Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir becane president, but the BNP is yet to finalise its candidate while Jamaat-e-Islami has already named its pick.

Talking to party workers, two names have emerged as BNP's likely picks: the president's younger brother Mirza Faisal Amin, and his elder daughter Mirza Shamaruh.

The Jamaat-led 11-party alliance moved first.

On Sunday, it named Delawar Hossain, a former president of Islami Chhatra Shibir and now assistant secretary of Jamaat's Dhaka metropolitan south unit, as its candidate.

Ordinary voters, meanwhile, say party labels matter less than continuity. Whoever wins, they want the area's development to carry on uninterrupted.

Fakhrul, BNP's former secretary general, was elected president through a parliamentary vote on Aug 20.

The Election Commission declared the Thakurgaon-1 seat vacant the following day, a day after his oath.

Under the Constitution, voting must be completed within 90 days, though the schedule is yet to be announced.

Since the seat fell vacant, local politics has been abuzz with speculation over who might replace Fakhrul, and whose chances look strongest.

Fakhrul won the seat with 238,836 votes in the 13th national election on Feb 12, with his nearest rival Delawar polling 141,017.

Local voters believe Fakhrul's personal popularity made that win straightforward, but the equation could look different this time.

If the party fails to nominate the right candidate, they say, the seat could slip out of its hands.

Nibir Sarkar, a voter from the town's Collegepara, said residents would back whichever candidate they found capable of driving development.

Sirajul Haque, from the same locality, said party affiliation mattered less to him than accessibility, adding he would vote for whoever stood by residents in good times and bad.

Asked about the speculation, Thakurgaon district BNP President Mirza Faisal said his direct involvement in local politics meant his name, or others', was bound to come up.

The final call on the party's candidate for the vacant seat, he said, rested with its high command and policymakers.

District BNP General Secretary Poigam Ali said there was no division within the party over the nomination, and that workers would unite behind whoever the central leadership chose.

Local political analysts say BNP's new candidate will need to prove his or her own acceptability while holding on to the substantial vote bank Fakhrul built up.

Delawar's own strong showing at the last election remains his chief asset, and could reshape the contest this time round.

Jamaat candidate Delawar said that if the election is free and fair and voters can cast their ballots without hindrance, his victory is certain.

Thakurgaon-1, made up of Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila and the newly formed Ruhia and Bhulli Upazilas, has 511,629 registered voters: 250,053 men, 256,572 women and four third-gender voters.