Aimed at the upcoming JatiyaSangsad elections, hectic lobbying and counter-lobbying have already started with various political party leaders of the Rajshahi-2 constituency very active in trying to bag nominations in their favour.
According to the Election Commission, the 12th JS polls will be held at the end of December this year or during the first phase of January next year.
After talking to a cross-section of people, this correspondent garnered an idea about the popularity and possible candidacies of the parties to contest the upcoming Parliamentary polls from the Rajshahi-2 constituency.
It is assumed that most of the city voters favour Vice-President of Rajshahi City AL Shahin Akhter Reni as the contestant from Awami League for Rajshahi-2 (Sadar) constituency.
DoublewSarker, General Secretary of Rajshahi City AL is favourite to many voters as a candidate to contest as MP in Rajshahi-2 constituency. DoublewSarker is known to be a veteran AL politician and his contribution during the rough times of the party is highly praised and recognised by the party insiders.
Another possible contestant as the MP candidate is the President of Rajshahi City AL Md Ali Kamal while the Joint Secretary of the City AL AhsanulHaquePintu is also likely to be a contestant from the party in the 12th Parliamentary elections.
On the other hand, Rajshahi City has been ruled by the BNP leaders for a long time. People of Rajshahi also favour BNP and Jamaat, and they want to see any BNP or Jammat-backed political leader get the nomination and contest the poll.
Former Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor and Advisor to the BNP Chairperson, former MP M. Mijanur Rahman Minu is also a favourite of local voters. For his amiable personality, humanitarian activities and direct contact with the grassroots level of people, Minu is very popular among the people of Rajshahi. M Mijanur Rahman Minu is almost sure to bag the nomination to contest as an MP candidate from the party's high command.
Joint Secretary General of BNP AdvRuhulKabir Rizvi is also very popular among the people of Rajshahi. He is also a possible candidate in the elections.
Moreover, former RCC Mayor Mosaddeque Hossain Bulbul is likely to seek nomination as the candidate to contest the next Parliamentary Elections.
Among others, Ava Haque, wife of former Minister and MP Barrister AminulHaque, BNP leader Mahfuzur Rahman Milon, BNP leader Advocate Sultanul Islam Tareque, retired Maj Gen Sharif Uddin, brother of former Minister Barrister AminulHaque, BNP leaders Sajedur Rahman Marconi and Shahadat Hossain Shahid are also the possible BNP candidates. All the above-mentioned candidates have already started public contact through various meetings, processions and programmes and are very active in keeping a regular contact with the concerned party high-ups to bag nominations as candidates to contest the upcoming polls.
Meanwhile, Workers Party leader, Politburo member of the party Fazley Hossain Badsha is the incumbent MP of the Rajshahi-2 constituency from the ruling AL-led grand alliance. He may be nominated once again as a candidate from the alliance.
In case of a crack in the grand alliance, the ruling Awami League's preferred candidate to contest for the post of Member of Parliament in the next General Elections is the Vice-President of Rajshahi City AL Shahin Akhter Reni from the party from Rajshahi-2 (Sadar) constituency.
However, the incumbent Chairman of RajshahiZilaParishad Mir Iqbal is a well-known freedom fighter and holds the important party post of Vice-President in RajshahiSadar. For his contribution to the party, he is also likely to be the preferred candidate from the RajshahiSadar (Rajshahi-2) constituency.
Following the death of the Jatiya Party's former Member of Parliament Mesbah Uddin Bablu and the internal feud of the Jatiya Party, there is no prominent candidate of the party to contest the next parliamentary elections in the RajshahiSadar seat. However, former Mayoral candidate of RCC Saiful Islam Swapon is likely to be a contestant in Parliamentary elections from the Jatiya Party in RajshahiSadar seat.
