Awami League Chief and Mohajote leader Sheikh Hasina
has refrained from naming H.M. Ershad from Dhaka-17 constituency and
also Abu Hossain Babla from Dhaka-5 constituency as Mohajote candidates
in her massive election projection meeting held at city's Paltan ground
yesterday.
Sheikh Hasina was speaking from a bulletproof podium
heavily cordoned by security personnel. For the first time she spoke
from behind glass pane. The extraordinary security measures uncommon
here characterises the ongoing unease prevailing in the current
political arena. She also sought 'votes' for boat without mentioning
about plough which is also in the race as the symbol of the Mohajote.
Hasina visited her own constituency at Pirganj, Rangpur when Ershad was also in the campaign in other parts of the district.
Ershad
complained, even Hasina did not inform him whom he considers his
younger sister that she was coming to visit her constituency at her
husband Dr. Wajed Mia's ancestral village at Pirganj.
Two
leaders ranking in the city committee were refused entry into Hasina’s
podium by the high-profile security men. The identities of those were
not ascertained.
Ershad said he phoned Hasina several times to overcome the present unease but the phone remained unattended.
He
said, though Jatiya Party was allotted 44 seats under an electoral
adjustment but the Awami League had refused to withdraw from 14 seats
including one belonging to his wife Raushan Ershad at Gangachhara in
Rangpur. He further said, he was totally betrayed by the Awami League.
Awami
League candidate Mujibul Haq and Habibur Raman Molla are still fighting
JP's heavyweight candidates Kazi Zafar and Abu Hossain Babla from
Dhaka-5 and Comilla-11 constituencies respectively.
The election
campaign by the BNP and the Awami League appeared to have been at the
final stage with huge public meeting addressed by Hasina at Paltan to
be followed by Khaleda addressing from the same venue today.
So far Khaleda has addressed 185 meetings throughout the country while Hasina has 65 meetings to her credit.
As
far as campaign is concerned Khaleda is the front runner. But observers
and analysts view that the BNP campaign is Khaleda-centric.
The
leaders of the two big parties are yet to shun their old style of
acrimonious campaign. Hasina revived her aggression on Khaleda and her
sons accusing siphoning off state money to foreign countries.
Khaleda
is reported to be in financial crisis while conducting her election
campaign for BNP. Her bank accounts remain frozen while Hasina's bank
accounts which have a deposit of more than Taka two crore have been
released. Khaleda has also not applied to the NBR or other government
agencies for releasing the fund.
Hasina is likely to visit Chittagong, the traditional BNP citadel, today marking the winding up of the election campaign.
According
to a London-based private projection the BNP was 10 per cent ahead of
its arch-rival Awami League in opinion polls as the December 29
parliamentary polls was only two days away.
The Government seems
to be at odds over 101 ordinances, which require urgent legitimacy
immediately after the potential parliament is convened.
Meanwhile
Chief Adviser of the caretaker Government Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed stayed at
Baywatch, a sea resort at Cox's Bazar for 20 hours. Gen Moeen U Ahmed
also accompanied the Chief Adviser. Dr Mohammad Younus, the Nobel
laureate and prominent economist was also reported to have joined the
session. But what transpired in the talks when the national election
was nearby was not known. Observers anticipate that it was not a mere
pleasure trip, it could be more than that.
Source: The New Nation