BNP to share four seats with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam

BNP on Tuesday announced that it will share four parliamentary seats with its alliance partner Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh for the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election, reports UNB.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir disclosed the decision at a press conference at the party Chairperson's Gulshan office, saying the seats were given as part of seat-sharing arrangements with alliance partners.

"Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh will contest the upcoming election with BNP on the basis of an understanding. BNP has left Nilphamari-1, Narayanganj-4, Brahmanbaria-2 and Sylhet-5 constituencies for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh, where the party will contest the election with the 'Date Palm Tree' symbol," Fakhrul said.

On behalf of BNP, he congratulated and welcomed the four candidates of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh.

Fakhrul also said BNP will not field any candidate in the four agreed constituencies, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh will not contest in other seats across the country as part of the understanding.

Calling upon BNP leaders and activists, Fakhrul urged them to fully cooperate with Jamiat candidates in the four constituencies.

"I appeal to our leaders and workers, and to voters in those areas, to vote for the 'Date Palm Tree' symbol and thereby strengthen the 'Sheaf of Paddy'," he said.

Fakhrul warned that if any BNP leader or activist contests the election as an independent candidate in seats already allocated to alliance partners, organisational action will be taken against them.

The Jamiat candidates are Maulana Md Manjurul Islam Afendi in Nilphamari-1, Mufti Monir Hossain Kasemi in Narayanganj-4, Maulana Md Ubaidullah Faruq in Sylhet-5 and Maulana Junayed Al Habib in Brahmanbaria-2.

bdnews24.com adds: Brahmanbaria-2 is among the four constituencies that the BNP has ceded to its alliance partner Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh, a decision that has reshaped expectations around the seat long associated with BNP leader Rumin Farhana.

The constituency had been widely discussed as a potential contest for Rumin, BNP's assistant secretary for international affairs.

Despite not securing the party's nomination, the former lawmaker has announced her intention to contest in the election independently from Brahmanbaria-2, which comprises parts of Sarail, Ashuganj and Bijoynagar Upazilas.

Rumin's possible candidacy in the seat had been a subject of intense discussion even before the election schedule for the parliamentary elections was announced.