Lawmakers and AL leaders face off in Chandpur 

Yusuf Gazi, vice president of Chandpur district Awami League and an ally of Education Minister and Chandpur-3 Lawmaker Dipu Moni, had received nomination from his party for the position of chairman in the zilla parishad election.  

But the returning officer canceled his nomination on 18 September as he was convicted in a cheque fraud case.

A section of the ruling party has been supporting the outgoing chairman, Abu Osman Patwary, for the position. He belongs to the rival faction of Dipu Moni. Though he was the chief election coordinator for Dipu Moni in the 2008 and 2014 national polls, a rift developed between them in the following years. 

According to party sources, Chandpur district Awami League leaders have strong disagreements with the party’s central joint general secretary Dipu Moni on various issues.

The scenario is nothing different in the remaining four constituencies in the district. There have been frequent incidents of clashes and lawsuits in the aftermath of the rivalry between the lawmakers and other central and local leaders. 

The number of factions inside the ruling party reached up to four in several upazilas. They all are shifting blames to others for the situation. 

Leaders and activists said a faction considers the others as their opponent. Despite being from the same party, they have been engaged in revengeful attacks and lawsuits, putting the root level activists in misery. Also, it is holding back the development projects of the government. 

In the 2016 council of district Awami League, the then mayor of Chandpur municipality, Nasir Uddin Ahmed, was elected president and Abu Naeem Patwari general secretary.

In the municipal election of 2020, Nasir Uddin Ahmed sought nomination from his party, but the former president of Chittagong University Chhatra League, Zillur Rahman, defeated him in the run for nomination. 

Now, the followers of Nasir Uddin Ahmed alleged that Dipu Moni took the side of Zillur Rahman who later won the election.  

Some leaders complained that Dipu Moni gives priority to the former and present leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). These leaders accompany her at different functions in Chandpur, which made the Awami League men aggrieved. 

Some relatives and allies of the education minister came to the limelight in April, for their alleged involvement in corruption in the land acquisition process for Chandpur University of Science and Technology, in illegal sand extraction from Padma and Meghna rivers, and irregularities regarding the Khaas lands.   

Nasir Uddin and Abu Naeem Patwary were vocal in the media against the minister regarding the allegation.   

Minister Dipu Moni claimed to have a good relationship with all, including district and upazila level leaders. 

“However, the district Awami League president and general secretary do not attend my programmes since the mayoral election. Only they can tell why they do not come,” she said. 

Abu Naeem Patwary said they (the supporters of Dipu Moni) have been tarnishing the party image through various controversial activities. They indulge controversial people.

Notorious sand trader Selim Khan has been expelled from the party, but they are still giving shelter to him, said Abu Naeem. 

But Dipu Moni called into question the district committee's authority to expel Selim Khan. 

A distance developed between Rafiqul Islam Bir Uttam, lawmaker from Chandpur-5 constituency, and Gazi Md Mainuddin, general secretary of Hajiganj upazila Awami League and municipal chairman, three years ago. Mainuddin was the general secretary of upazila development coordination committee while Rafiqul was its patron. 

According to party sources, the committee was dissolved after 2019 due to Gazi Mainuddin's rivalry with the lawmaker. Later, a new committee was formed with Ahsan Habib, treasurer of district Awami League, as convener and Jasim Uddin, organising secretary of upazila Awami League, as member secretary. 

The supporters of the lawmaker have been in the field under the banner of the development committee. But the president and secretary of upazila Awami League took position against the committee and tagged it as ‘Development League.’ 

The upazila president, Helal Uddin Patwary, claimed that the lawmaker has no relationship with the party. 

However, Munshi Mohammad Monir, the joint secretary of the municipal Awami League, voiced in favour of the lawmaker and said Rafiqul Islam cherishes the ideology of suppressing the evil and patronising the good. Gazi Mainuddin amassed wealth using his position. 

Gazi Mainuddin, however, complained that some followers of the parliamentarian are sharing the development allocations among themselves, under the banner of the development committee. 

Like Hajiganj, there is also a tension between the local lawmaker and party leaders in Shahrasti upazila, regarding the development committee. 

Kamruzzaman, general secretary of Shahrasti upazila Awami League, said the member of parliament (MP) created the Development League without involvement of the party. This is why there are no partymen by his side. 

Rafiqul Islam Bir Uttam said the development coordination committee prevails in many places and they coordinate the development works.

However, he did not answer when asked about the feud with local Awami League leaders regarding the committee. 

There is a rivalry between Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, lawmaker from Chandpur-1 and advisory council member of the ruling party, and Selim Mahmud, central information and research secretary, over establishing supremacy among the local leaders. 

Selim Mahmud has both president and secretary of upazila Awami League by his side. The committee of Kachua municipality was supposed to be formed on 12 September, but it was done two days earlier in the presence of Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir. 

Upazila Awami League President Ayub Ali Patwary said the upazila unit is authorised to form the municipal committee, but they know nothing about the newly formed committee. 

Selim Mahmud said that the president and general secretary of the upazila Awami League run the party properly, but they are facing hindrances nowadays. “It is not desirable that the party will be controlled by the decisions of an MP.”

However, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir claimed that the council was held on the announced date. Upazila Awami League president and general secretary did not enter the conference hall, but they stayed outside. 

The conference was held due to pressure from councillors, he added. 

There has been dispute over dominance between Awami League Presidium Member Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury and Chandpur-2 lawmaker and Senior Vice President of Dhaka City Awami League Nurul Amin. The two groups have engaged in clashes and filed lawsuits against each other on 2 October. Over a clash at Sujatpur on 3 October, Monir Molla, former organising secretary of Matlab Upazila Krishak League, filed a case with the Chandpur court against 14 leaders and activists including the former chairmen of Matlab Uttar upazila, Manjur Ahmed and Mizanur Rahman. 

Mizanur Rahman alleged that they have been accused on directives of Mofazzal Hossain and his son Sajedul Hossain alias Dipu Chowdhury. 

Lawmaker Nurul Amin said they (Mofazzal Hossain) still maintain negative politics and want to keep everything under their control. 

Since Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury is suffering from Covid-19, his son Sajedul Hossain spoke to Prothom Alo. He claimed that their supporters have been accused in a higher number of cases after the election of Nurul Amin as lawmaker. And Monir Molla was not instructed to file a case on their behalf.

In Chandpur-4 constituency (Faridganj), lawmaker Shafiqur Rahman has a longstanding rivalry with former lawmaker Shamsul Haque Bhuiyan. 

A new dimension has been added to the rivalry after Zahidul Islam, the former president of district Chhatra League and a relative of Dipu Moni, became the chairman of Faridganj upazila parishad. The supporters of Shafiqur Rahman and Zahidul Islam clashed several times. 

According to party sources, the committee of Farindganj upazila Chhatra League was announced in April. In a counter move, the faction of Shafiqur Rahman formed a separate committee as the followers of Zahidul ruled the previous one. 

Abu Shahed Sarkar, general secretary of Faridganj Upazila Awami League, complained that they cannot run the organisational activities properly as the three factions are tightening their grip within the party. 

Shafiqur Rahman told Prothom Alo that there are some people in the party who act and talk incoherently and he does not care about these elements.

Nasir Uddin, president of Awami League’s district unit, also admitted the internal rivalry. He said the party has become organisationally weak due to conflicts. 

However, the district Awami League is not responsible for the grouping. Influential leaders are fighting for their own influence, he added.