Rift again emerges in Jatiya Party ahead of JS polls

Yet another rift has emerged in the Jatiya Party centring the decision to not nominate a number of leaders loyal to the party's chief patron Raushan Ershad for 12th national elections.

The party, however, has kept the Mymensingh-4 seat for chief patron Raushan Ershad, wife of party founder Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who did not collect any nomination papers amid a dispute with Chairman GM Quader, brother of Ershad.

"Our chief patron has not yet taken her nomination form. This seat has been kept vacant in her honour," said General Secretary Mujibul Haque Chunnu.

Following the announcement of the candidates, Golam Masih, political secretary of the pro-Raushan faction, said on Monday, "Today is a very sad day for us. We didn't expect that. JaPa has split four times before. Before every election, there is a split in the party. It is very unfortunate for us.

"Raushan Ershad told me on Monday afternoon, 'don't worry, we will stay together'. It was very sad for us when we heard in the afternoon that GM Quader had arbitrarily declared the candidates. You can say that the party has now split for the fifth time."

Sources said JaPa Chairman Quader and General Secretary Chunnu finalised the list on Monday leaving supporters of chief patron Raushan's supporters empty handed.

Party Chairman Quader has also been nominated from Dhaka-17, the seat previously held by the party's founder the late Hussain Muhammad Ershad's, while Quader's wife Sharifa Quader has been nominated for Dhaka-18 constituency.

Meanwhile, Mujibul Haque Chunnu has been nominated for Kishoreganj-3 constituency.

Besides, there was no nomination for the Gopalganj-3 seat, which is currently held by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the secretary general.

Masih had earlier told The Business Standard that the party leaders were hoping to reach a solution during a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Several party leaders told The Business Standard that GM Quader and Raushan Ershad had met several times to resolve the inter-party conflict, but Quader refused to give concessions to pro-Raushan leaders.

"He did not  agree to bring back anyone who was expelled, including Ranga. As a result, no solution could be found," said Masih.

On the other hand, Raushan had expressed interest in meeting with the prime minister and forming an alliance with the Awami League to hold elections under the boat symbol, but the matter was not considered by the ruling party.

A meeting between the premier and Raushan could not be arranged despite the opposition leader trying for a week, said party sources.

Masih said, "I don't know what will happen due to the division in the party... Earlier, JaPa broke four times.  But the party turned around under the leadership of Ershad and Raushan. We will turn around again under the leadership of Raushan Ershad. GM Quader should take responsibility for the split."

"History and JaPa leaders will judge GM Quader. We will sit with Raushan Ershad and decide what to do. She will not go to the polls in this divided state. Until this issue is resolved, she will not go to the polls. GM Quader deliberately arranged to keep us out of the election," he added.

After over two decades and three consecutive national polls, the Jatiya Party on Monday fielded candidates for over 200 seats to contest nationwide in the upcoming 12th parliamentary election, announcing names for 287 seats.

The party has expressed its ambition to field candidates in all 300 seats but acknowledge that in the end, there may be 2 to 1 seats left vacant.

"We could not make a decision regarding the remaining seats as there were multiple candidates. We will list the rest within one or two days. Maybe one or two more seats will be kept vacant," Chunnu said after announcing the names of candidates at the party chairperson's office in the capital's Banani area.

Out of the 22 Jatiya Party MPs elected in the 11th national polls, three were not nominated this time.

Split in Jatiya Party ahead of elections has become a common scenario since its inception, except the 1996 national polls.

Founded in 1986, the Jatiya Party is now divided into five factions, of which, at least four have registered as new political entities. The registered parties are Jatiya Party-JaPa (GM Quader), Jatiya Party-JP (Monju), Bangladesh Jatiya Party (Motin) and Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP (Partho).

The other factions are the Kazi Jafar group and the Raushan Ershad group.

Hussain Muhammad Ershad founded the party with  "Plough" as its official symbol. After the fall of Ershad in 1990, some of the top leaders switched the BNP and some joined the Awami League. Two more factions were created later in 1999 and 2014.

Before the 2008 elections, a grand coalition was formed by the Awami League and the Jatiya Party against the four-party alliance.