United News of Bangladesh

While candidates of their main rival party have already begun reaching out to voters, BNP nomination seekers across the country remain in limbo, awaiting the party high command’s green signal, a delay that has left many grassroots leaders and activists increasingly frustrated. Talking to UNB, several grassroots BNP leaders said they fear the party may face internal conflicts and rival candidates during the election if it takes much longer to finalise nominations and reach an understanding with those who will not be selected. They said Jamaat-e-Islami has long been running an organised and active election campaign after announcing its candidates in almost all constituencies, while BNP aspirants are busy competing to show their popularity in their respective areas instead of directly engaging with the people. BNP leaders also observed that some top party leaders might become complacent, thinking that BNP will perform well regardless of when nominations are announced, as their main rival, the Awami League, may not take part in the election. They warned that such complacency could lead to negative outcomes, as Jamaat-e-Islami is already trying to win over voters through various strategies, including using religious sentiment, spreading narratives, and tarnishing BNP’s image with false propaganda. The leaders emphasised that BNP should not only give green signals to candidates but also develop election strategies to attract voters and counter Jamaat’s negative campaign. Grassroots leaders also called for party Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman to return home immediately to lead the party for a strong performance in the upcoming election. “We are uncertain about who will get the nomination from our constituency, Dhaka-13. I think the party should finalise the list of candidates immediately, or else we will fall behind our political rivals in election campaigning,” said Yusuf Mridha, Joint Convenor of Dhaka North City Unit. Mridha, also a former president of Mohammpur Thana unit BNP, said they are currently working with ex-Dhaka South City unit convenor Abdus Salam as a BNP candidate. “If he (Salam) is given the party nomination, that will be fine. But if the party makes any changes, it could create divisions within the party and make it difficult to work with a new candidate. Whatever decision the party takes, it should be made as early as possible,” he said. Bazlul Karim Chowdhury Abed, BNP’s Rural Development and Cooperatives Affairs assistant secretary, said Jamaat has announced not only its MP candidates but also its upazila and Union Parishad candidates across the country over two months ago and has been campaigning in an organised way. Final voter lists to be published Nov 18 As a cadre-based party, Jamaat is gaining an advantage from its organised campaign, while BNP leaders and activists remain uncertain about who will be their candidates in many seats. In some areas there are six or seven BNP aspirants, each campaigning separately, creating confusion within the party,” he said. Abed, who is also an aspirant for the Noakhali-5 constituency, said there are seven nomination seekers from his seat. “Our party leaders and activists are confused about whom they should work with. This is also widening intra-party conflicts.” In such a situation, he said the party should immediately finalise the candidates so that grassroots leaders can actively participate in campaigning and counter Jamaat’s propaganda. “If the party delays selecting candidates, it may pay a heavy price in the election.” Rafiqul Amin Bhuiyan Ruhel, Narsindi BNP organising secretary, said the party could announce the names of at least 150 candidates immediately, with the rest revealed in two further phases. Fakhrul alleges move to bring bureaucracy under party control ahead of election “It is easy for the party to finalise candidates in many seats, so there is no reason to delay announcing them. But in some constituencies, it is difficult to decide. In those seats, our Acting Chairman should carefully evaluate the popularity, position, and public image of each aspirant to select the best candidate and avoid intra-party conflicts,” he said. Ruhel also said they are hearing Tarique Rahman will return home very soon. “If he returns, our party will gain new momentum, and the morale of the rank and file will be boosted, creating a positive election wave in favour of the party,” he said. As Jamaat is campaigning actively across the country, he said BNP should also develop proper election strategies to counter negative campaigns and gain support from people of all walks of life. “Tarique Rahman, in his interview with BBC, said BNP will nominate candidates who have acceptability among all sections of the community. This is important as Awami League may remain out of the race. We need candidates who can attract voters regardless of their political identity,” Ruhel said. Some senior party leaders said around 1,500 people are seeking BNP nomination to contest in 300 constituencies in the next national election. They said the BNP leadership is expected to give an early 'go-ahead' or preliminary approval to one potential candidate per constituency this month, after assessing their chances of victory. Final nominations will be approved later by the party’s nomination board once the election schedule is announced. NCP refuses any symbol from EC’s list, renews demand for ‘Water Lily’ The leaders said the party should boost field-level activities and speed up door-to-door campaigning with clear candidates in each seat, following concerns that having multiple aspirants in one area is creating confusion and weakening the campaign. BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said the party will announce the names of its candidates at an appropriate time. “Every party has its own strategy. We are not concerned about what other parties are doing. It is BNP’s decision when to announce the candidates.” He said the party will make careful and well-considered decisions when selecting its candidates. “I hope BNP will take the right decisions at the right time.” Replying to another question, Khosru said that as a major party, it is normal for BNP to have multiple aspirants. “But once the nominations are finalised, everyone will work together as one.”

Bangladesh should go for commercial cultivation of vannamei species of shrimp or king prawn to capture the global market. The king prawn currently accounts for 80% of global market share, where Bangladesh has no presence. Bangladesh is falling behind as commercial cultivation of the species is still far away. It's now mostly in the stage of pilot projects. Also read: Govt determined to end shrimp production & exportation problems: Rezaul This subject was discussed on Sunday by shrimp exporters and cultivators in a seminar at the Khulna’s Shrimp Tower. At the seminar, they demanded that commercial cultivation of vannamei be allowed instead of running pilot projects. Exporters and cultivators are thus unable to get loans, they said. Also read: Shrimp farmers count losses from cyclone in Koyra Speakers at the seminar said that there is no alternative to vannamei as the production of tiger shrimp and prawn are decreasing in the country. To save the waning shrimp industry, government’s intervention is needed along with the permission to cultivate vannamei commercially. Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association has been appealing to the government for the last 20 years to allow the cultivation of vannamei shrimp to keep the shrimp industry alive. As a result, the government allowed the pilot cultivation of this variety of shrimp in September 2019. The project is being piloted at the Paikgachha Saltwater Center in Khulna under the Department of Fisheries and the Fisheries Research Institution. The average production is more than 9 tons per hectare. Read Shrimps inflated with jelly seized in Jashore The association provided statistics that show the average production of tiger shrimp in Bangladesh is 341 kg per hectare. In neighbouring India, the average production of vannamei is 7,102 per kg hectare. This means that the production of vannamei is 6,761 kg more per hectare than that of tiger shrimp. Vice President of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association S. Humayun Kabir said that due to lack of raw material (shrimp), only 28 out of 105 frozen fish processing and exporting companies in the country are operational and remaining have closed. The production is meeting only 10-15 per cent of the capacity of the companies and as a result, the processing cost is also increasing. This industry has come to the brink of collapse. To revive this industry, there is no alternative to increasing production by cultivating vannamei. Fourteen other Asian countries have been exporting vannamei, he said. Read Crocodile rescued at Bagerhat shrimp enclosure freed in the Sundarbans He demanded that permission be given for commercial production of vannamei shrimp and save the industry.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is reluctant to resume cricket in the country without a green signal from the government.   Right after the outbreak of the coronavirus, the board stopped all kind of cricketing activities in the country. Along with this, the board adopted work from home policy for some administrative works.    Before the lockdown, cricketers were busy playing in the Dhaka Premier League- country’s most prestigious List-A event. The league had been postponed after the sixth game on March 16. Since then, all the cricketers are passing time at home.    “We want to resume the game in Bangladesh and the cricketers are also hoping for so. But it’s not up to us. At first, we need everything to go back to normalcy. We are waiting for a green signal from the government. We have no plan to bring the cricket back to the field without the government instruction,” Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the BCB CEO, told the media recently.   Not just the domestic cricket, Bangladesh’s international schedules also were also hit hard due to the novel coronavirus. The Tigers were scheduled to tour to Pakistan at the beginning  of April, but coronavirus forced this series to be rescheduled in future. Along with this, Bangladesh’s Ireland tour was also postponed indefinitely.   Bangladesh, however, is yet to confirm anything about the Sri Lanka tour which is scheduled in June-July this year. The BCB CEO said, “We have not postponed the Sri Lanka series yet. We are observing the situation in Sri Lanka. To be honest, we are not in a position to talk about the future of this series. We are currently thinking much on the series which are postponed due to the virus.”   Nizamuddin also said the board is thinking to resume Bangladesh’s cricket with the domestic events which are on halt now. At the same time, cricketers are also hoping the board will not cancel this year’s Dhaka League which is the main source of income for hundreds of cricketers who only play in domestic cricket.    Meanwhile, as per the latest update from the authority, more than 11000 people tested positive for coronavirus in Bangladesh while 186 of them died. The country was maintaining strict lockdown but recently, the government decided to ease the lockdown as it permitted shopping malls to reopen on a limited scale and offering prayers at mosques with proper precaution.