Staff Correspondent
Most of the voters are yet to get familiar with half of the candidates of the two major political parties, the Awami League and the BNP in their respective constituencies in the capital as the parties fielded some new faces for the constituencies.
For eight constituencies of the total 15 in the capital, the BNP picked eight new faces while its rival the Awami League-led combine nominated seven new candidates.
Many voters are yet to know the constituencies where they belong. ‘I do not know which constituency I belong to as I see the posters of the candidates of two constituencies at Khilgaon Taltola which is my area,’ Abdul Malek, a service holder in a non-government firm, told New Age on Wednesday.
While visiting, it was found that most of the voters were not well aware of the candidates, although they could name the heavy weight candidates or those who were comparatively old.
With the state of emergency lifted on Wednesday, the electioneering began to get momentum as the workers of the candidates brought out processions and started mass campaign.
When approached, a teacher of a non-government high school in the city, Marufa Ferdousi, who lives in the Dhaka 9 constituency, easily identified the AL’s candidate, but she took a few minutes to name the BNP’s Shirin Sultana.
Shawkat Ali, an employ of Bhaia Group of Industries in Tejgaon, said he had no idea about the candidates of the BNP and the AL. ‘I shall vote after seeing the symbol of the party,’ he told New Age on Wednesday.
A tea stall owner at Dhanmondi said, ‘I cannot name any of the candidates except that of the BNP’s Khandker Mahbubuddin Ahmed as the electioneering is yet to get momentum.’
He, however, said workers of both the election symbols had approached him seeking his vote.
Though the two candidates (ASM Hannan Shah and Rashed Khan Menon) of the two camps are new in Dhaka, the AL-led alliance’s Rashed Khan and the BNP’s ASM Hannan Shah are known to almost all the voters for their frequent appearances in the TV programmes.
However, the candidates claimed that being new faces in the area was not creating any problem for them as it was the general election.
‘The people of the capital are aware of the national politics, political parties and the election symbols in particular. So they do not take much time to identify the right candidates,’ said the BNP-led alliance candidate, Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, who is fighting against the AL’s Jahangir Kabir Nanak for the Dhaka 13 constituency.
The voters meanwhile said they should have been given more time to come across the candidates.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
