The news published in the media that many BNP leaders have received ‘green signals’ for party nominations is not true, said the party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
He said, “No candidate has been given a green signal in any constituency. Among the aspirants, only the one who has performed well in various party activities will be nominated as a candidate.”
BNP’s nominations are given through its own constitutional process, not through any green signal. He made these remarks at an emergency press conference at the party’s central office in Naya Paltan in the capital on Tuesday (September 23). A report on BNP’s nomination was published in a national daily on September 22.
In one episode of this series of reports, it is claimed that out of the 4 constituencies in Cox’s Bazar, only Mohammad Abdullah has received party instructions in Cox’s Bazar-4, i.e. Ukhia-Teknaf.
However, on the day the report was published, Senior Joint Secretary General Rizvi said to the leaders and activists, “This is not a green signal, the acting chairman of the party, Mr. Tarique Rahman, is giving specific and appropriate instructions to work unitedly in every area. “As a result, this statement makes it clear that the news of Abdullah, the district BNP finance secretary, receiving party nomination is not true. However, BNP has announced that it will make maximum preparations for the upcoming national elections.
Regarding the nomination, Rizvi also said at the press conference, “You will all work unitedly. You will all work for whomever the party nominates. But no nomination has been given yet.” Incidentally, the Cox’s Bazar-4 constituency, which is being discussed for various reasons, consists of two upazilas in the southernmost part of the country, Ukhia and Teknaf. Legend has it that the party that wins from this seat comes to power in the state. In the race to get the paddy sheaf symbol of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP, one of the largest political parties in the country, along with Abdullah, four-time former MP and former whip Shahjahan Chowdhury is in the discussion as one of the main contenders for the seat. Shahjahan Chowdhury, a popular veteran politician with five decades of political experience, is currently serving as the president of Cox’s Bazar District BNP. This organizer of the Liberation War won the second national parliamentary election in 1979 from the then Chittagong-18 and the fifth in 1991, the sixth in February 1996 and the eighth in 2001 from Cox’s Bazar-4. On the other hand, Abdullah, who participated in the Teknaf Upazila Parishad elections twice and was defeated, has never participated in the parliamentary election.
He has been involved in BNP politics for a long time and is in the field as a ‘nomination aspirant’ this time after building his own followers.
On August 5, he announced his presence by holding a separate program with his followers to mark the one-year anniversary of the July Uprising in Teknaf, without following organizational instructions, but he did not have any program in Ukhia. On the same day, Shahjahan Chowdhury was the chief guest at the program organized by the Upazila Committees in Teknaf and Ukhia, where a large number of leaders and activists participated. Now it remains to be seen who will get the nomination for the Cox’s Bazar-4 parliamentary constituency with nearly three and a half lakh voters?
To get the answer to this question, the party’s leaders and activists may have to wait until the official and final announcement comes from the BNP center.