Heavyweights' surprise defeat to independents

Photo: TBS

Several heavyweight candidates including nominees from the Awami League and other parties, and independent contenders failed to secure victory in their respective constituencies in the 12th national polls, marked by the boycott of the BNP and other like-minded parties, as well as low voter turnout.

Notable among them are Awami League candidate State Minister for Civil Aviation Mahbub Ali, Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju, Workers' Party's Fazle Hossain Badsha, Jatiyo Party's Sharifa Quader, Krishak Sramik Janata League's Quader Siddiqi, and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal's Hasanul Haque Inu.

Additionally, heavyweight candidates from the Awami League Shahin Chakladar, Momtaz Begum, State Minister for Disaster Management Dr Enamur Rahman and Kazi Zafrullah, along with independent candidate Mashiur Rahman Ranga, were also unsuccessful in securing victory.

According to unofficial results announced by the returning officers' offices, the majority of these heavyweight candidates were defeated by independent candidates with political affiliations to the Awami League who were denied official party tickets.
In the Habiganj-4 seat, Awami League candidate State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali conceded defeat to independent contender Barrister Sayedul Haque Sumon.

Sumon, who ran as an independent candidate with the "eagle" symbol, secured 1.98 lakh votes, while two-time lawmaker Mahbub Ali received 47,000 votes, as per the locally announced election results.

In the Pirojpur-2 seat, Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju, running with the "bicycle" symbol, suffered a defeat against independent candidate Mohiuddin Maharaj, the joint general secretary of district Awami League.
Mohiuddin Maharaj, former Zilla Parishad chairman, once served Manju as his personal assistant

This marks the first occasion where Manju has conceded defeat after securing victories in six previous elections from the same seat.

The Awami League withdrew its candidate from the constituency, leaving it for Manju in a seat-sharing arrangement, as his party is a member of the 14-party alliance.

Since its formation in 2001, the party has won more than one seat only once, in 2014, when all major opposition parties, including the BNP, boycotted the national election.

In the Rajshahi-2 seat, Workers' Party candidate Fazle Hossain Badsha lost to independent candidate Md Shafiqur Rahman Badsha.

Fazle Hossain Badsha, general secretary of the Bangladesh Workers Party and a three-time lawmaker, participated in the polls under the Awami League's "boat" symbol as part of the AL-led 14-party alliance.

Shafiqur Rahman Badsha, a teacher by profession and the senior vice president of AL's Rajshahi city unit, contested independently with the symbol "scissor."

According to the results from the returning officer's office, Shafiqur Rahman Badsha secured 54,906 votes, surpassing Fazle Hossain Badsha, who received 31,466 votes.

Local sources say despite Fazle Hossain Badshah running with the boat symbol, the local Awami League did not support him. Right from the start, they actively campaigned for independent candidate Shafiqur Rahman Badsha.

In Dhaka-18 seat, Jatiyo Party Chairman GM Quader's wife, Sharifa Quader, faced defeat against independent candidate Md Khosru Chowdhury, the secretary of industry and commerce of Mahanagar North Awami League.

The Awami League withdrew its candidate from the constituency in accordance with a seat-sharing agreement with the Jatiyo Party. Unofficial results indicate that Sharifa Quader's "plow" symbol secured only 6,555 votes, while Khosru garnered 69,831 votes with the "kettle" symbol.

In Tangail-8, Krishak Sramik Janata League president Kader Siddiqui faced defeat from Awami League nominated candidate Anupam Shahjahan. According to unofficial results, Kader Siddiqui got 67,501 votes, while Anupam Shahjahan got 96,401 votes.

In the Kushtia-2 seat, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal's Hasanul Haque Inu faced defeat against independent candidate Md Kamarul Arefin, who previously served as the Mirpur Upazila Awami League general secretary and resigned from the post of Mirpur Upazila Parishad chairman to contest the election.

According to unofficial results, Md Kamarul Arefin secured 98,896 votes, while Inu received 79,735 votes.

In the Jashore-6 seat, the official Awami League candidate Shahin Chaklader was defeated by AL independent candidate Azizul Islam. Unofficial results indicate that Shahin Chaklader received 39,269 votes, while Azizul Islam secured 48,947 votes.

In Faridpur-4, Awami League candidate Kazi Zafrullah faced defeat against independent Awami League candidate Mujibur Rahman Chowdhury Nixon. Nixon, running with the eagle symbol, garnered 148,035 votes, surpassing Kazi Zafrullah, who ran with the boat symbol and received 124,066 votes.

Awami League candidate Momtaz Begum, popular singer and three-time MP, has lost the race to the Jatiya Sangsad to independent candidate Dewan Zahid Ahemd Tulu in Manikganj-2.

Competing with the electoral symbol "truck", Tulu pulled 84,525 votes in 193 polling stations, according to preliminary results announced by the returning officer on Sunday night.

On the other hand, Momtaz got 78,269 votes competing with the "boat" symbol.

In the Jashore-5 constituency, the state minister for local government, rural development & cooperatives and incumbent MP from the seat from AL, Swapan Bhattacharjee, lost to independent candidate Yakub Ali.

Swapan Bhattacharjee got 55,587 votes while Yakub Ali got 60,099 votes.