Hasanuzzaman Khan
Awami League Chief and Mohajote leader Sheikh Hasina has refrained from naming H.M. Ershad from Dhaka-17 constituency and also Abu Hossain Babla from Dhaka-5 constituency as Mohajote candidates in her massive election projection meeting held at city’s Paltan ground yesterday.
Sheikh Hasina was speaking from a bulletproof podium heavily cordoned by security personnel. For the first time she spoke from behind glass pane. The extraordinary security measures uncommon here characterises the ongoing unease prevailing in the current political arena. She also sought ‘votes’ for boat without mentioning about plough which is also in the race as the symbol of the Mohajote.
Hasina visited her own constituency at Pirganj, Rangpur when Ershad was also in the campaign in other parts of the district.
Ershad complained, even Hasina did not inform him whom he considers his younger sister that she was coming to visit her constituency at her husband Dr. Wajed Mia’s ancestral village at Pirganj.
Two leaders ranking in the city committee were refused entry into Hasina’s podium by the high-profile security men. The identities of those were not ascertained.
Ershad said he phoned Hasina several times to overcome the present unease but the phone remained unattended.
He said, though Jatiya Party was allotted 44 seats under an electoral adjustment but the Awami League had refused to withdraw from 14 seats including one belonging to his wife Raushan Ershad at Gangachhara in Rangpur. He further said, he was totally betrayed by the Awami League.
Awami League candidate Mujibul Haq and Habibur Raman Molla are still fighting JP’s heavyweight candidates Kazi Zafar and Abu Hossain Babla from Dhaka-5 and Comilla-11 constituencies respectively.
The election campaign by the BNP and the Awami League appeared to have been at the final stage with huge public meeting addressed by Hasina at Paltan to be followed by Khaleda addressing from the same venue today.
So far Khaleda has addressed 185 meetings throughout the country while Hasina has 65 meetings to her credit.
As far as campaign is concerned Khaleda is the front runner. But observers and analysts view that the BNP campaign is Khaleda-centric.
The leaders of the two big parties are yet to shun their old style of acrimonious campaign. Hasina revived her aggression on Khaleda and her sons accusing siphoning off state money to foreign countries.
Khaleda is reported to be in financial crisis while conducting her election campaign for BNP. Her bank accounts remain frozen while Hasina’s bank accounts which have a deposit of more than Taka two crore have been released. Khaleda has also not applied to the NBR or other government agencies for releasing the fund.
Hasina is likely to visit Chittagong, the traditional BNP citadel, today marking the winding up of the election campaign.
According to a London-based private projection the BNP was 10 per cent ahead of its arch-rival Awami League in opinion polls as the December 29 parliamentary polls was only two days away.
The Government seems to be at odds over 101 ordinances, which require urgent legitimacy immediately after the potential parliament is convened.
Meanwhile Chief Adviser of the caretaker Government Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed stayed at Baywatch, a sea resort at Cox’s Bazar for 20 hours. Gen Moeen U Ahmed also accompanied the Chief Adviser. Dr Mohammad Younus, the Nobel laureate and prominent economist was also reported to have joined the session. But what transpired in the talks when the national election was nearby was not known. Observers anticipate that it was not a mere pleasure trip, it could be more than that.
Courtesy: nation.ittefaq.com
