Awami League fields candidates in alliance partners’ seats  

Ruling party Awami League has released a list of party nominations for 298 seats, excluding the two seats of Narayanganj in Dhaka and Kushtia.  

Notably, the party has not allocated any seats for its allies, including long-time political associates from the last two parliamentary elections. This includes the seats of Jatiya Party's Raushan Ershad and GM Quader, as well as Workers Party's Rashed Khan Menon. 

However, it's important to note that this is not the final nomination list for Awami League. The list is considered a part of the election preparation for the party alone, and as a result, the nominations for many individuals on this list may be subject to last-minute changes. 

The party has yet to finalise its strategy for the upcoming parliamentary elections, and as of now, no information on seat sharing or agreements with any other parties has been disclosed. 

Awami League's policy-making sources have indicated that the party's election strategy will be finalised within a day or two. With the main opposition, BNP, currently opting out of the election, Awami League will assess the electoral landscape based on the participation of other parties and the candidates they field. The strategy will involve considering internal compromises with old grand coalition partners and political allies, including the 14-party coalition. Consequently, there may be adjustments to the list of nominated candidates, and some individuals may be dropped. 

In the previous 11th National Assembly elections, the coalition consisting of late HM Ershad's Jatiya Party (JaPa), Rashed Khan Menon's Bangladesh Workers Party, Hasanul Haque Inu's Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (JaSoD), Badruddoza Chowdhury's Bikalpadhara Party, Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari's Tariqat Federation, and Anwar Hossain Manju's Bangladesh Jatiya Party (JP) collectively secured 33 seats. The evolving electoral scenario will likely shape the decision-making process for Awami League's election strategy. 

Over the past five years, there has been ongoing discussion in the political arena suggesting that certain parties secured their positions through compromise with Awami League. Critics have raised concerns about the fairness and impartiality of elections during this period. Similar discussions and rumours of compromises are circulating in the absence of BNP in the upcoming elections.  

In the last election, several individuals, including JaPa's senior leader Raushan Ershad, three members from Workers Party, including Rashed Khan Menon, three members from JSD, including Hasanul Haque Inu, and two members from Bikalpadhara Party, including Mahi B Chowdhury, were elected as parliamentarians.

Additionally, Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari of Bangladesh Tariqat Federation and Anwar Hossain Manju of JP also secured seats in the Parliament. The recurrence of discussions surrounding compromises in elections raises questions about the political dynamics in the absence of major opposition parties like BNP. 

Awami League has nominated Mohibur Rahman as the candidate for the Mymensingh-4 seat, previously held by Raushan Ershad, the chief patron of JaPa and the leader of the opposition in the parliament. 

In addition to this, the party has nominated candidates for other seats previously associated with JaPa members. Matiar Rahman has been nominated for Lalmonirhat-3, the seat of JaPa chairman GM Quader.  

Nasirul Islam has been nominated for Kishoreganj-3, the seat of JaPa general secretary Mujibul Haque Chunnu. Abdus Salam has been nominated for Chattogram-5, the seat of senior JaPa leader Anisul Islam Mahmud. Sayeed Khokon has been nominated for Dhaka-6, the seat previously held by Kazi Firoz Rashid. 

The Jatiya Party (JaPa) is also gearing up for the upcoming elections and has announced its intention to participate independently. The party is set to release its candidate list soon, and according to related sources, JaPa has finalised nominations for 298 seats, excluding two seats in Gopalganj. 

JaPa Co-Chairman Kazi Firoz Rashid stated, "We have also decided candidates for 300 seats. Tomorrow (today, Monday), party chairman GM Quader will release the list. Then let's see what happens." 

In a similar vein, Awami League has fielded candidates in constituencies previously held by opposition leaders. For instance, A F M Bahauddin Nashim will contest in Dhaka-8 (previously held by Rashed Khan Menon), Muhammad Ali in Rajshahi-2 (previously held by Fazle Hossain Badshar), Mohiuddin Ahmed in Munshiganj-1 (previously held by Mahi B Chowdhury), Faridunnahar in Lakshmipur-4 (previously held by Abdul Mannan), Khadijatul Anwar in Chittagong-2 (previously held by Tariqat Federation's Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari), and Kanai Lal Biswas in Pirojpur-2.  

Mahi B Chowdhury stated to Prothom Alo last Sunday night, "The 14-party alliance is the ideological alliance of Awami League. Candidates have been fielded in all the seats; there is no electoral alliance with us. I don't know if there will be an alliance this time. There has been no discussion with us on this matter so far. If there is an alliance, I will participate in the polls with the alliance, and if there is no alliance, I will join independently." 

According to sources, most of the seats that were left vacant last time might remain unallotted this time as well. Discussions with various parties regarding this matter are expected to take place soon.

Notably, new political parties such as 'Trinamool BNP' and Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) are actively participating in the elections. Both parties are led by individuals who were previously associated with BNP.

There is speculation in political circles that these parties, referred to as the King's Party, are attempting to field former BNP leaders with the support of the government. 

Two top leaders of Trinamool BNP, Samsher Mobin Chowdhury, want to contest in Sylhet-6 (Bianibazar-Golapganj) and Taimur Alam Khandkar in Narayanganj-1 (Rupganj) constituencies.  

In addition, four former members of parliament who joined BNM from BNP, Shah Mohammad Abu Jafar in Faridpur-1 seat, Abdul Wahab will contest in Jhenaidah-1 seat, Dewan Shamsul Abedin in Sunamganj-4 seat and Abdur Rahman in Barguna-2 seat.  

Apart from this, Bangladesh Kalyan Party Chairman Syed Muhammad Ibrahim has announced to leave the simultaneous movement of BNP and participate in the elections. He wants to contest in current seat of JaPa MP Anisul Islam Mahmud from Chittagong-5 seat. In all these constituencies, Awami League announced the party's nominees yesterday. 

Awami League has also nominated candidates for the seats previously held by two parliamentarians, Mokabbir Khan and Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed, who originally won with BNP's "sheaf of paddy" symbol. Despite BNP resigning from the parliament, Mokabbir Khan and Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed continued their terms until the end. Sultan Mohammad Mansur, a former Awami League leader, criticized BNP in Parliament. Awami League has nominated Shafiul Alam Chowdhury for Sultan Mohammad Mansur's Moulvibazar-2 constituency and Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury for Mokabbir Khan's Sylhet-2 constituency. 

The release of Awami League's nomination list has sparked discomfort among some parliamentarians who secured their seats through compromises in the last election.

According to them, Awami League could have kept 100 seats vacant in the list, making it more enticing for other parties to participate in the election. Eventually, Awami League may withdraw several candidates, but the initial list may create complications in the electoral field.