Awami League, its political allies and partners of the AL-led 14-party-led alliance finally have reached a consensus through sharing of a total of 32 seats in the upcoming 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election slated for January 7, 2024.
They arrived at the consensus on Sunday, the last day of the withdrawal of candidatures.
As part of the consensus, the AL shared 26 seats with its major political ally Jatiya Party, and six seats with the partners of the 14-party alliance.
Now the ruling party will contest the polls for 263 out of the total 300 seats as five of the candidatures have been cancelled by the Election Commission (EC).
However, those candidates appealed in the High Court against the EC’s decision.
According to the sources in the parties concerned, although they are sharing 32 seats, the Jatiya Party will take part in the voting with its own party symbol ‘plough’ (Langal) but the partners of the 14-party alliance will use the AL’s party symbol ‘Boat’ (Nouka)
According to the AL, apart from 26 seats for the Jatiya Party, it has sacrificed six other seats for the three partners of its 14-party alliance.
AL office secretary Biplab Barua on Sunday said that the AL is sharing three seats with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, two with Workers Party of Bangladesh and one with Jatyia Party (Manju).
The AL on Sunday withdrew its contestants from 30 constituencies as the party earlier didn’t field candidates in two constituencies out of 32 seats.
The 26 seats left for Jatiya Party are Thakurgaon-3, Niphamari-3 and 4, Rangpur-1 and 3, Kurigram-1 and 2, Gaibnadha-1 and 2, Bogura-2 and 3, Sathkhira-2, Patuakhlai-1, Barishal-3, Pirojpur-3, Myemnsingh-5 and 8, Kishorganj-3, Manikganj- 1, Dhaka-18, Habiganj-1, Brahmanbaria-2, Feni-3, Chhatogram-5 and 8, and Naryanganj-5.
The six seats shared with the partners of 14-party alliance are Bagura- 4, Rajshahi -2, Kushtia-2, Barishal-2, Pirojpur-2 and Laxmipur-4.
The JP contestants in the 26 seats are Hafiz Uddin Ahmed in Thakurgaon-3, Rana Mohammad Sohel in Niphamari-3, Ahsan Adelur Rahman in Nilphamari-4, Hossain Mukbul Shahriar in Rangpur-1, Ghulam Mohammad Quader (GM Quader) in Rangpur-3, AKM Mustafizur Rahman in Kurigram-1, Panir Uddin Ahmed in Kurigram-2, Shameem Haider Patwary in Gaibandha-1, Abdur Rashid Sarkaer in Gaibandha-2,Shariful Islam Jennah in Bogura-2 Md Nurul Islam Talkuder in Bogruar-3, Md Ashrafuzzaman in Sathkhira-2, ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader in Patuakhlai-1, Ghulam Kibria Tipu in Barishal-3, Md Mashrekul Azam Robi in Pirojpur-3, Salah Uddin Ahmed (Mukti) in Myemnsingh- 5 Fakhrul Imam in Mymensingh-8, Md Mujibul Haque (Chunnu) in Kishorganj- 3, Jahirul Alam Rubel in Manikganj 1, Sharifa Qauder in Dhaka- 18, Md Abdul Moneem Chowdhury in Habiganj- 1, Md Abdul Hamid in Brahmanbaria- 2, Masud Uddin Chowdhury in Feni- 3, Anisul Islam Mahmud in Chhatogram- 5 and Md Solaiman Alam Sheth in Chattogram- 8, and Selim Osman in Narayanganj- 5.
The three Workers Party contenders are Rashed Khan Menon in Barishal-2, Fazle Hossain Badsha in Rajshahi-2 and AKM Rezaul Karim Tanseen in Bogura-4, three Jasod candidates are in Hasanul Huq Inu in Kushtia-2, Mosharraf Hossain in Laxmipur-4 and Jatiya Party (JP-Manju) contestant Anwar Hossain (Manju) in Pirojpur-2.
Around 2500 candidates from at least 28 political parties and independent platforms are participating in the election.
To hold the election in free and fair manner, the EC has decided to engage a total of 7.5 lakh members from different law-enforcement and security agencies. Of them, 1,82,091 will be deployed from the Bangladesh Police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), 46,876 from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), 5,16,000 from the Ansar and VDP, and 2,350 from the Coast Guard.
Besides, members from the Armed Forces Division are also being deployed across the country.
Moreover, Judicial Enquiry committees and mobile courts are also active in the field.
