Although the party has already announced candidates in 236 constituencies ahead of the 13th national parliamentary election, BNP’s real challenge now is to allocate seats among its alliance partners and like-minded parties, as they have already sought over 200 seats, said senior BNP leaders.
Talking to UNB, several senior BNP leaders said sharing seats with alliance partners has now become an uphill task, as there is a big gap between expectations and reality.
They said the party has started informal talks with like-minded groups to ensure effective negotiations and find ways to achieve a win-win outcome.
The BNP leaders said the party has kept 64 parliamentary seats open for its long-time allies in the anti-fascist simultaneous movement, but it is willing to share at best 40 seats, including 10 for the National Citizen Party (NCP).
A BNP Standing Committee member, wishing anonymity, said under the amended Representation of the People Order (RPO), coalition partners cannot contest using BNP’s election symbol, the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’, and must compete with their own symbols.
“We now have to be very careful about seat sharing because of this. If the alliance partners cannot use our symbol, it could reduce their chances of victory, as many do not have strong local support or personal vote banks,” he said.
In this situation, the BNP leader said, the party will try to persuade its alliance partners with other assurances, such as giving them ministerial positions or appointments to important institutions if their party comes to power.
Another BNP Standing Committee member said the party has already announced plans to form a national government with representatives from different parties included in the cabinet.
He said members of the party’s liaison committee, in consultation with Tarique Rahman, are closely monitoring the seat-sharing discussions to strike a balance between the party’s interests and the demands of its partners.
“BNP is serious about giving proper space to its alliance partners. The decision to keep 63 seats open reflects our commitment to a united opposition,” the BNP leader said.
He also said some changes may be made to the list of 236 announced candidates after discussions with the alliance partners.
The BNP leader said they have recently asked key partners of the joint movement to indicate which constituencies they wish to contest. “So far, they have submitted lists for 222 constituencies,” he said.
Party insiders said 14 leaders from like-minded parties have already been asked to start their election campaigns in respective areas.
They include Mostafa Jamal Haider, Chairman of Jatiya Party, for Pirojpur-1 while Mahmudur Rahman Manna, President of Nagorik Oikko, for Bogura-2, Andalib Rahman Partha, Chairman of BJP, for Dhaka-17, Shahadat Hossain Selim, Chairman of Bangladesh LDP, for Laxmipur-1, Tania Rob, wife of JSD’s ASM Abdur Rab, for Laxmipur-4, Syed Ehsanul Huda, Chairman of Bangladesh Jatiya Party, for Kishoreganj-5, Bobi Hajjaj, Chairman of NDA, for Dhaka-13, Jonayed Saki, Chief Coordinator of Gonosonghoti Andolon, for Brahmanbaria-6, Professor Omar Farooq, son of Colonel (Retd) Oli Ahmed and Chairman of LDP, for Chattogram-14, Dr Redowan Ahmed, General Secretary of LDP, for Comilla-7, Dr Fariduzzaman Farhad, Coordinator of Nationalist Alliance and Chairman of NPP, for Narail-2, Nurul Haque Nur, President of Ganadhikar Parishad, for Patuakhali-, Rashed Khan, General Secretary of Ganadhikar Parishad, for Jhenaidah-2, and Dr Mostafizur Rahman Iran, Chairman of Labour Party, for Jhalakathi-1.
BNP has not nominated any candidates in those seats.
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Party sources said the NCP sought 20 seats from BNP, though the party is considering giving them at best 10.
NCP sources said they might not reach an understanding with BNP if their key leaders are not nominated, including Nahid Islam for Dhaka-11, Akhtar Hossain for Rangpur-4, Sarjis Alam for Panchagarh-1, Hasnat Abdullah for Comilla-4, Nasiruddin Patwari for Dhaka-18, Tasnim Jara for Dhaka-9, Sarwar Tushar for Narsingdi-2, Hannan Masud for Noakhali-6, and Adibul Islam Adib for Dhaka-14.
BNP may also share seats with two Islamist parties — Jamiat Ulama-e Islam and Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish.
Jamiat, led by Maulana Ubaydullah Faruq and Maulana Manzurul Islam Afendi, has sought around 12 seats, including Sylhet-5, Nilphamari-1, Brahmanbaria-2, Narayanganj-4, Kishoreganj-1 and Sunamganj-2.
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BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the alliance partners in the simultaneous movement have already been asked to submit their lists of potential candidates. “We will consider their proposals seriously and finalise seat sharing on the basis of field realities and viability,” he said.
Fakhrul said although the party has already announced 236 potential candidates, some changes may be made later after discussions with allied parties.
BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said, “In our preliminary candidate list, 63 seats have been left vacant. These seats are not all reserved for coalition partners. Some areas have multiple strong candidates, and we have not yet finalised decisions there. These unresolved constituencies will be decided soon.”
On the allocation of seats for allies, Dr Hossain said, “We will give maximum consideration to parties that have been part of our movement. Discussions are ongoing about who will contest from which constituency, and we will finalise the decisions very soon.”