Staff Reporter :BNP has alleged that its two mayor candidates, who have withdrawn their nominations allegedly being forced by the ruling party, went missing ahead of the December 30 Municipal polls. However, one of them was found later. BNP and the family members of the candidates pointed fingers at the law enforcers and the rivals in this regard. BNP Joint Secretary General AM Mahbubuddin Khokon on Monday evening told The New Nation their mayor candidates of Madarganj Municipality in Jamalpur Mosharraf Hossain Talukder and Chatkhil Municipality in Noakhali Mostafa Kamal went missing on Sunday. However, Mostafa Kamal was found later while Mosharraf Hossain was missing till Monday evening, he said. Khokon, also the general secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said that the ruling Awami League’s candidates in Madarganj and Chatkhil were elected uncontested, as the BNP’s candidates were forced to withdraw their nominations. These two BNP leaders were kidnapped and forced to withdraw their nominations, he alleged. “We assume that the law enforcers influenced by their rivals picked up the BNP mayor candidates,” said Khokon quoting family members. A delegation of BNP led by Khokon on Monday afternoon went to Election Commission (EC) and filed a complaint in this regard. The delegation sought EC’s intervention into the matter. Meanwhile, the BNP has formed a central monitoring cell and seven other divisional committees to supervise the Municipal polls and assist the party’s candidates to carry out election campaign. BNP Joint Secretary General Mohammad Shahjahan said that the divisional committees would assist the central coordination committee to carry out campaign and find out party’s strategies to overcome ‘all the obstacles created by the government and the ruling party men’. BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been made convener of the central monitoring cell, while Mohammad Shahjahan is its member secretary.The party’s standing committee, the highest policy-making body of the party, in its meeting on December 10 decided to form the central monitoring cell and the seven divisional committees. All the divisional committee members are scheduled to sit with the central committee convener and member secretary today (Tuesday) at 11:00am to fix their action plan ahead of the polls. The meeting will be held at BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office.
