3 state ministers, 11 other AL MPs defeated by independent candidates

Three state ministers of the incumbent government were defeated by the independent candidates from their own party in the 12th general elections. Beside, several MPs of the Awami League, including a presidium and secretariat member of the party, lost the polls to party leaders contesting the polls as independent candidates.

As of 12.30 am Monday, at least 11 Awami League MPs of the incumbent parliaments were defeated by the rival independent candidates. Prothom Alo had unofficial results of some 111 of the 299 constituencies.

The existing cabinet comprises 23 ministers, 18 state ministers and 3 deputy ministers apart from the prime minister. All of them except three managed to secure the nomination of the ruling Awami League.

Of them, state minister for civil aviation and tourism Md Mahbub Ali’s defeat to former central Jubo League leader and a social media influencer Syed Sayedul Haque (Barrister Sumon) came as a surprise.

Syed Sayedul Haque has defeated Mahbub Ali by a huge margin of nearly 100,000 votes from the Habiganj-4 constituency. Sayedul Haque bagged 169,099 votes while his nearest candidate Mahbub Ali got 69,543 votes.

State minister for the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Swapan Bhattacharjee has failed to win the polls from the Jashore-5 constituency. He was defeated by independent candidate Yakub Ali by nearly 5,000 votes. Yakub Ali secured some 77,468 votes where Swapan Bhattacharjee got 72,332 votes.

Awami League candidate from the Dhaka-19 constituency and the state minister for relief and disaster management Enamur Rahman too has lost the polls.

Apart from that, three state ministers failed to secure Awami League nomination. They are – state minister for culture KM Khalid, state minister for labour Begum Munnujan Sufian and state minister for mass education Zakir Hossain. They didn’t take part in the polls.

Awami League candidate from the Faridpur-4 constituency Kazi Zafar Ullah was defeated by the independent candidate Mojibur Rahman (Nixon Chowdhury) once again for the third consecutive time. Awami League presidium member Zafar Ullah was the co-chairman of the election steering committee of the Awami League this time.

In Netrakona-3, incumbent MP and Awami League’s cultural affairs secretary Asim Kumar Ukil has lost the polls to the independent candidate from his own party and former MP Iftikar Uddin. Asim Kumar Ukil bagged 74,550 votes while Iftikar Uddin secured 76,803 votes.

Meanwhile, independent candidate from the Madaripur-3 constituency Tahmina Begum has defeated Awami League candidate and incumbent MP Abdus Sobhan Golap by a huge margin. Tahmina got 96,633 votes and Sobhan secured 61,971 votes. Sobhan is the publicity and publication secretary of the ruling party.

Awami League candidate Mrinal Kanti Das has lost the polls in the Munshiganj-3 constituency. He is the liberation war affairs secretary of the Awami League. He was defeated by independent candidate Mohammad Faisal.

Incumbent MP and Awami League candidate from the Barguna-1 constituency Dhirendranath Shambhu sparked criticism for breaching the electoral code of conduct during electioneering. He was elected MP from this constituency for three consecutive times. He was defeated by independent candidate Golam Sarwar this time.

Popular playback singer Mumtaz Begum lost the polls from the Manikganj-2 constituency. She is the incumbent MP from this constituency.

In Chattogram-15, Awami League candidate Abu Reza Muhammad Nezamuddin Nadvi lost the polls to independent candidate and Awami League leader Abdul Motaleb.

Awami League candidate in the Jashore-6 constituency Shahin Chaklader was defeated by independent candidate Azizul Islam. Shahin Chaklader is an incumbent MP and general secretary of Jashore district Awami League.

Former state minister Meher Afroz is also among the incumbent Awami League MPs who lost the polls. He lost the polls to independent candidate Akhtaruzzaman from the Gazipur-5 constituency. Failing to secure the nomination from the Awami League, former DACSU VP Akhtaruzzaman contested the polls as an independent candidate.

Former state minister and incumbent MP from the Jamalpur-4 constituency Murad Hasan too was defeated in the polls. However, he was an independent candidate this time and lost the polls to the Awami League nominated candidate Abdur Rashid. Abdur Rashid is a former principal of the Tejgaon College in the capital.

Apart from them, incumbent MP from the Cox’s Bazar-1 constituency Jafar Alam has lost the polls. He contested the polls as an independent candidate this time.

Another incumbent MP Md Farhad Hossain too has lost the polls in the Brahmanbaria-1 constituency. He was defeated by independent candidate Syed AK Ekramuzzaman. He was expelled by the BNP for taking part in the polls.