BNP running with convening committees, conflict within AL

Cumilla city and south district Awami League's politics is being controlled by ministers and members of parliament. North district Awami League's term is over and it is rife with conflict. Supports of the MP from the reserved seat for women Anjum Sultana, have been sidelined. City, north and south district BNP have no full-fledged committees. Senior leaders have not been included in the convening committees.

There are 10 upazilas and 6 parliamentary seats under Cumilla south Awami League's 75-member committee. Two of the six members of parliament are ministers. Md Mujibul Haque of Cumilla-11 (Chauddagram) and AKM Bahauddin of Cumilla-6 (Sadar-City-Cantonment) are influential in their respective constituencies. Cumills-5 (Burichang-Brahmanpara) member of parliament Abul Hashim Khan is the president of Burichang Awami League. At least 7 leaders of his constituency are active about contesting in the election.

Barura upazila Awami League president Nasimul Alam Chowdhury is the member of parliament from Cumilla-8  (Barura). South district Awami League's vice president AZM Shafiuddin Shamim is seeking nomination for his seat. Barura upazila parishad chairman Mainul Islam, deprived of a place in south district Awami League, is also seeking candidacy.

South district Awami League general secretary Md Mujibul Haque said, "There are no problems here. There is an upazila committee too. We are all united. But centering the election, several persons will want nomination if various seats."

In the 2019 north district Awami League council, M Ruhul Amin was made president and Roushan Ali general secretary. Later a 75-member full-fledged committee was formed. But none of the 5 members of parliament are in the top posts.

Speaking to leaders and activists, it was learnt that the conflict between the Cumilla-4 (Debidwar) member of parliament and district Awami League member Razi Mohammad Fakhrul, and the Debidwar upazila chairman and district committee organising secretary Abul Kalam Azad, is quite open now. Also, there is conflict between them and general secretary Roushan Ali. All three of them want to contest in the election. They have differences over the upazila committee too.

Cumilla-3 (Muradnagar) member of parliament Yusuf Abdullah Harun's conflict with upazila Awami League general secretary and district Awami League member Jahangir Alam has continued on for 27 years now. Cumilla-7 Chandina) MP and north district AL vice president Pran Gopal Dutta is in conflict with the upazila president Muntakim Ashraf, some of the later MP Ali Ashraf.

Subid Ali Bhuiyan is the member of parliament of Cumilla-1, consisting of Daudkandi and Titas. Awami League's central science and technology secretary Abdus Sabur wants nomination there. Meanwhile, Homna AL president Abdul Majid and Meghna's president Shafiqul Alam are united against the Cumilla-2 (Homna-Meghna) MP Selima Ahmad.

North district AL president M Ruhul Amin said, there will naturally be competition within the party over nomination before the election. There is conflict in certain areas over upazila committees. The council will be held when the centre instructs.

On 11 May city Awami League's 71-member full committee was approved. And 66 of the members are followers of MP AKM Bahauddin. Followers of the MP from the reserved seat for women Anjum Sultana and of her father later AL leader Afzal Khan, were not given posts in the committee.

Over the past three months, there have been conferences and extended meetings in the various wards of city Awami League. Anjum Sultana wants to contest from this seat. She says, "My followers may not have been accommodated in the committee, but I am working for the party. I will ask the leader for nomination."

Several attempts were made to contact MP Bahauddin over mobile phone, but he did not respond. He did not reply to any SMS either. City AL general secretary Arfanul Huq said, "Awami League is extremely strong organisationally under Bahar bhai. Already councils have been held, or are being held, in 27 wards. Ward committees are being formed in keeping with the party constitution and taking opinion from the grassroots."

Grassroots leaders in the city, north and south district BNP are angered that the convening committee leadership lies with younger leaders. Committees can't be formed in a few upazilas due to conflict at district and upazila level.

On 20 May 2022,  a 44-member convening committee was formed with Md Amiruzzaman as convener and Yusuf Mollah as member secretary. Amiruzzaman was accused of violating party discipline and dropped from the committee, after which the committee was dissolved. Later a 25-member committee was formed with Udbatul Bari as convener and Yusuf Mollah as member secretary. But the gap between these leaders and the senior leaders was not resolved. Though Amiruzzaman was dropped, he always remains in the front row of all programmes of the party.

Former general secretary of the dissolved Cumilla town BNP Humanyun Kabir said, senior leaders have no place in city BNP. If city BNP is to be reorganised, former mayor Monirul Islam must be brought in.

South district BNP convener Amin Ur Rashid alias Yasin is an aspirant for nomination to the Cumilla-6 seat. Also seeking nomination is this seat is former mayor Munirul Huq who has been expelled for life from the party. He said, "Yasin sahib (Amin) opposed me in the city corporation election. He made his brother-in-law candidate and defeated me. I want to come back to the party. I will seek party nomination."

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Aminur Rashid said, BNP is strong in the city and district. There is no conflict in the party. City BNP general secretary Yusuf Mollah said that city BNP is powerful. All the ward committees will be formed gradually. The party is running in accordance to the centre. The centre formed the convening committee with leaders and activists who have made sacrifices.

North district BNP on 30 May 2022 formed a 41-member convening committee with Akhtaruzzaman Sarker as convener and Tareq Munshi as member secretary. Seven upazilas are running with convening committees. Former president of north district BNP Manzurul Ahsan Munshi is seeking nomination for the Cumilla-4 (Debidwar) seat. There is a distance between him and the district leaders. Tareq Munshi wants to contest from this seat. With the death of former president of north BNP Khorshed Alam, a leadership vacuum has emerged in Cumilla-7 (Chandina). A section of BNP is moving ahead with Liberal Democratic Party secretary general Redwan Ahmed in this seat.

BNP's candidate for the Cumilla-3 (Muradnagar) seat last time was KM Mujibur Huq. But this time he is not active. BNP standing committee member Khandakar Musharraf Hossain and his son central committee member Khandakar Mahbub Hossain are active in the Cumilla-1 (Daudkandi-Titas) seat. While the name of Kaiser Hossain, some of late BN leader MK Anwar, is being heard regarding the Cumilla-2 (Homna-Meghna) seat, he is not active in the field.

North district BNP convener Akhtaruzzaman Sarker says, BNP is running with convening committees in the north district and seven upazilas. Most of the leaders are away from the area, faced with cases and adversity. But they are surviving and holding on.