Amu, Razzak, Tofael, Suranjit dropped from AL Presidium

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Awami League (AL) heavyweights Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofael Ahmed and Suranjit Sengupta were dropped from the Presidium, the ruling party's highest policy-making body, as the AL rolled out a fully fledged committee Thursday, five days after the national council, report bdnews24.com and UNB.
These behemoths, who dominated the AL politics for decades, will not have a say in the party's policymaking and executive affairs, as they have been sidelined to the ceremonial Advisory Council. They apparently paid the price for pursuing 'reforms', the buzzword in politics for the two years of emergency rule that attempted to install a new party leadership exiling even the party president Sheikh Hasina.
On the other hand, Sahara Khatun, Abdul Latif Siddique, Raziuddin Ahmed Razu, Satish Chandra Roy, Obaidul Qader and Yousuf Mohammad Humayun have been included in the new-look AL Presidium to replace the four and fill the places of former members - President Zillur Rahman and late Abdus Samad Azad.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Mukul Bose, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Akhteruzzaman, Sultan Mohammed Monsur Ahmed, all so-called 'reformists', are also among the other big names failing to make the cut in the AL Central Working Committee (CWC).
The party council on July 24 dissolved the old committee, which included a 15-member Presidium, 30 secretaries and 26 members.
The AL had unanimously re-elected Sheikh Hasina as party President for a sixth time during the council, and trusted Syed Ashraful Islam as General Secretary at the cost of Abdul Jalil, who resigned two days prior to the council and who had spoken out against Hasina during detention in prison.
Names of Mahbubul Alam Hanif and Dipu Moni were announced among the three joint general secretaries.
The seven organising secretaries are Jahangir Kabir Nanok, Ahmed Hossain, ABM Mozammel Huq, Mesbah Uddin Siraj, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Abu Sayeed Swopon and Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.
The new AL presidium comprises: President Sheikh Hasina, General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, Sayeda Johra Tajuddin, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Motia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Kazi Jafrullah, Abdul Mannan, Ataur Rahman Khan Kaiser, Sahara Khatun, Abdul Latif Siddique, Raziuddin Ahmed Razu, Satish Chandra Roy and Obaidul Qader.
The secretaries are: AHM Mostafa Kamal (Lotus) - finance and planning secretary, Syed Abul Hossen - international affairs secretary, Abdul Matin Khasru - law secretary, Abdur Razzaq - agriculture and cooperatives secretary, Faridunnahar Laily - relief and social welfare secretary, Abdul Manna Khan - office secretary, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah - religion affairs secretary, Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin - publicity secretary, Hasan Mahmud - environment affairs secretary, Yafes Osman - science and technology secretary, Fajilatunnesa Indira - women affairs secretary, ABM Tazul Islam - liberation war affairs secretary, Dewan Shafiul Arefin Tutul - youth and sports secretary, Nurul Islam Nahid - education secretary, Faruk Khan - commerce and industry secretary, Habibur Rahman Siraj - labour and manpower secretary, Asaduzzaman Noor- cultural affairs secretary, Bodiuzzaman Bhuiyan - health and population secretary, HN Ashiqur Rahman - treasurer, Mrinal Kanti Das - deputy office secretary, and Asim Kumar Ukil - deputy publicity secretary.