Who will be the BNP candidate for the Bogura seat vacated by Tarique?

The Bogura-6 (Sadar) constituency has been vacated by Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Having been elected from two constituencies, he relinquished one seat the day before taking oath. As a result, a by-election will now be held in the vacant constituency. Discussions are under way over who BNP will nominate in that election.

From 1991 to 2008, BNP candidates won the Bogura-6 seat by large margins in every general election. In the 1996, 2001 and 2008 elections, the party’s late Chairperson Khaleda Zia won the seat by a landslide with the party’s ‘sheaf of paddy’ symbol. In the 13th parliamentary election held on 12 February, BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman also secured a decisive victory in the constituency.

The Election Commission has not yet announced the schedule for the by-election. However, speculation continues over who will be nominated as the party’s candidate. Some have suggested nominating Tarique Rahman’s wife, Zubaida Rahman, or his daughter, Zaima Rahman.

Among local leaders being discussed as potential candidates are president of Bogura District BNP and former mayor of Bogura municipality Rezaul Karim (Badsha), former president of Bogura District BNP and former mayor AKM Mahbubur Rahman, former district BNP president Saiful Islam, former member of parliament for Bogura-7 Helaluzzaman Talukder, and convener of the BNP Media Cell Moudud Hossain Almgir (Pavel).

When contacted, acting general secretary of Bogura District BNP and member of parliament for Bogura-4, Mosharraf Hossain said, “The party candidate for the by-election in the seat vacated by BNP chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has not yet been finalised. After the schedule is announced, the party high command will declare the candidate in due course.”

“Bogura-6 and Bogura-7 are considered seats of the Zia family. In the past, the late Chairperson Khaleda Zia won both seats by large margins. In this election, the party chairman also won by a landslide. Whether a member of the Zia family or another leader will be nominated in the by-election is a decision to be taken by the party chairman,” he added.