Five more candidates nominated by the Jatiya Party (JaPa) for the forthcoming 12th parliamentary elections have announced quitting the electoral fray citing various reasons.
They are Abdul Mannan Talukder, nominated for Sunamganj-1 (Tahirpur, Jamalganj, Dharmapasha, Madhyanagar) constituency; Shankar Paul for Habiganj-2 (Baniachong, Ajmiriganj), Mahbub Alam for Dinajpur-2 (Biral, Bochaganj), Jahirul Islam for Tangail-7 (Mirzapur) and Shamsuddin Khan for Gazipur-4 (Kapasia).
With the five, a total of 11 candidates of the opposition in incumbent 11th parliament quit the electoral race since the beginning of electioneering on 18 December.
Some of the candidates spoke about lacking in cooperation of the party’s central leaders while some cited their suspicion about a fair election and different types of pressure and threat as reasons for quitting the fray.
Abdul Mannan Talukder from Sunamganj-1 made the announcement of quitting the election at a media conference at Jamalganj upazila press club in Sunamganj on Tuesday.
He sent a letter to the party top brass alleging about not receiving any help from the central leaders. “I clearly understand that this is an election of seat sharing and making a mockery of the electoral system,” he wrote in the letter.
Candidate from Habiganj-2 constituency, Shankar Paul, also alleged the same and announced quitting the election through a video message.
The party’s candidate from Dinajpur-2 constituency, Mahbub Alam, cited his suspicion about the fairness of the election as reason for quitting the electoral fray.
“I’m in doubt about how neutral the voting process, counting and result announcement would be,” he said while addressing a press conference at Biral upazila Jatiya Party office on Tuesday afternoon.
Shamsuddin Khan from Gazipur-4 constituency cited “pressure and threat” as reasons for quitting the national election.
“Current political situation in Bangladesh is murky. There are various types of pressure on me and neither do I have physical or mental strength to face this situation. There are threats as well. Overall, I as a candidate of 'plough' have decided to quit the race since there is no scope to withdraw candidature,” he said.
Jahirul Islam from Tangail-7 quitted the race and lent his support to independent candidate Mir Enayet Hossain.
He told a wayside rally that they will run campaigns for ‘truck’, an electoral symbol of independent candidate Mir Enayet Hossain, as per a decision of the upazila unit of the party.
Earlier on Sunday, three candidates of Jatiya Party quit the race alleging “mockery, seat sharing and one sided” nature of the parliamentary election. They are Iqbal Hossain from Barishal-2 and Barishal-5, Khalilur Rahman from Barguna-1 and MM Niaz Uddin from Gazipur-1 and Gazipur-5 constituencies.
Before that Alauddin Mridha from Natore-4 (Baraigram, Gurudaspur), Zakir Hossain from Sirajganj-3 (Taras, Raiganj) and Salauddin Khoka Molla from Narayanganj-4 said they would not contest the election.
Jatiya Party had fielded candidates in 265 constituencies in the parliamentary elections. Of the constituencies, the party has compromised with the governing Awami League for 26 seats. The ruling party has withdrawn its candidates from the seats.
The JaPa candidates have not been campaigning or engaging in activities that much in the other constituencies. Of those seats, candidates from 13 constituencies have quitted the election so far.