bdnews24.com :
People in Laxmipur’s Raipur did not even know who Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul was before 2016. Two years later, he became their representative in parliament with the support of the local Awami League units by virtue of spending, what many say, “lots of money”.
He did not leave his wife Salina Islam behind either. She, too, became an MP from the seats reserved for women, using her husband’s blueprint.
Having travelled to Kuwait as a migrant worker, Shahid now owns a business empire there. He also has a sizable amount of shares of NRB Commercial Bank, founded by expatriate Bangladeshi entrepreneurs.
Kuwaiti authorities have recently seized his personal and company bank accounts after arresting him on charges of human trafficking and money laundering. Bangladesh is also investigating him.
Local Awami League leaders now say they backed him in the 2018 elections as part of a strategy to defeat their political rivals.
They have made another thing clear – money played a vital role in Shahid’s sudden rise in the political arena.
Kazi Jamshed Baki Billah, convenor of Raipur municipality unit of the ruling party, said he came to know Shahid when the independent MP took steps to establish a charity named after his mother.
Since then, Shahid had given the Upazila units of the Awami League and its affiliates a lot of money,
even building them party offices in every union and paying rents, Billah said.
Identifying himself as the convenor of the ruling party’s overseas unit in Kuwait, Shahid became a member of a ward unit of the Awami League last year. His wife and daughter also became members of the unit at the time.
Salina had been the vice-president of Cumilla North Awami League, but deserted the post to become MP.
The Awami League left the Laxmipur-2 seat for its ally the Jatiya Party, which nominated Mohammad Noman, the MP from the constituency in the last parliament.
Snubbed by the Awami League, Shahid began campaigning as an independent candidate. The picture changed abruptly when Noman pulled out of the race.
With no-one as their candidate, the local Awami League leaders threw their support behind Shahid and he eventually won the election by a huge margin. He bagged around 250,000 votes while his nearest rival, the BNP’s Abul Khayer Bhuiyan, got a little over 28,000.
After the Election Commission allocated the four independent MPs one seat from those reserved for women in the 11th Parliament, Shahid launched his successful bid to bring it to Salina.
So, what were the events that led the local Awami League leaders to back Shahid, an unknown figure in politics?
Billah said leaders of the district unit held an extended meeting and presented a letter from Selim Mahmud, a coordinator of the Awami League’s central election conduction committee.
“On instructions issued by the centre in that meeting, we decided to support Shahid. But many are speaking against him now as he is in danger,” the Awami League leader said.
People in Laxmipur’s Raipur did not even know who Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul was before 2016. Two years later, he became their representative in parliament with the support of the local Awami League units by virtue of spending, what many say, “lots of money”.
He did not leave his wife Salina Islam behind either. She, too, became an MP from the seats reserved for women, using her husband’s blueprint.
Having travelled to Kuwait as a migrant worker, Shahid now owns a business empire there. He also has a sizable amount of shares of NRB Commercial Bank, founded by expatriate Bangladeshi entrepreneurs.
Kuwaiti authorities have recently seized his personal and company bank accounts after arresting him on charges of human trafficking and money laundering. Bangladesh is also investigating him.
Local Awami League leaders now say they backed him in the 2018 elections as part of a strategy to defeat their political rivals.
They have made another thing clear – money played a vital role in Shahid’s sudden rise in the political arena.
Kazi Jamshed Baki Billah, convenor of Raipur municipality unit of the ruling party, said he came to know Shahid when the independent MP took steps to establish a charity named after his mother.
Since then, Shahid had given the Upazila units of the Awami League and its affiliates a lot of money,
even building them party offices in every union and paying rents, Billah said.
Identifying himself as the convenor of the ruling party’s overseas unit in Kuwait, Shahid became a member of a ward unit of the Awami League last year. His wife and daughter also became members of the unit at the time.
Salina had been the vice-president of Cumilla North Awami League, but deserted the post to become MP.
The Awami League left the Laxmipur-2 seat for its ally the Jatiya Party, which nominated Mohammad Noman, the MP from the constituency in the last parliament.
Snubbed by the Awami League, Shahid began campaigning as an independent candidate. The picture changed abruptly when Noman pulled out of the race.
With no-one as their candidate, the local Awami League leaders threw their support behind Shahid and he eventually won the election by a huge margin. He bagged around 250,000 votes while his nearest rival, the BNP’s Abul Khayer Bhuiyan, got a little over 28,000.
After the Election Commission allocated the four independent MPs one seat from those reserved for women in the 11th Parliament, Shahid launched his successful bid to bring it to Salina.
So, what were the events that led the local Awami League leaders to back Shahid, an unknown figure in politics?
Billah said leaders of the district unit held an extended meeting and presented a letter from Selim Mahmud, a coordinator of the Awami League’s central election conduction committee.
“On instructions issued by the centre in that meeting, we decided to support Shahid. But many are speaking against him now as he is in danger,” the Awami League leader said.
