Ehsanul Haque Jasim :The BNP has not yet been able to select its mayor candidate for Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), as the party is still in dilemma over choosing the suitable candidate. BNP insiders said, the party’s high command will get relief if BNP Chairperson’s adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo, whose nomination was cancelled, gets back his candidacy. For this reason, the pro-BNP lawyers are struggling for Mintoo. BNP thinks that he will be a good candidate for the mayor post against the Awami League-backed candidate. So, the party is still waiting for the decision of the Supreme Court. The lawyers of Mintoo filed an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday against the High Court’s order that rejected the writ petition of Mintoo challenging the cancellation of his nomination paper.Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Faiz Siddique fixed Thursday for hearing on the appeal. The regular bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha is expected to hear the appeal.A bench of the High Court on Monday rejected the writ petition filed by the counsels of Mintoo on his behalf. The writ petition was filed on Sunday after Dhaka Divisional Commissioner, also the Appellate Authority on behalf of the Election Commission, rejected an appeal of Mintoo. On April 1, the Returning Officer of the DNCC polls rejected nomination paper of Mintoo for procedural flaws. However, the nomination of his son Tabith Awal was declared valid.Tabith, and Mahi B Chowdhury, son of former President Badruddoza Chowdhury, were being considered as the alternative candidates of the BNP following the cancellation of Mintoo’s nomination. A group of BNP leaders are opposing Tabith as the alternative candidate in the DNCC polls. They believe that Mintoo’s mistake in the nomination paper was deliberate in favour of his son. On the other hand, another group of the BNP leaders and almost all the alliance partners are against supporting Mahi. They said that Mahi was not involved with their politics and the movement of the 20-party alliance. Talking to The New Nation on Tuesday, LDP leader Shahadat Hossain Selim and Bangladesh NAP leader M Golam Mostafa Bhuiyan said that they wouldn’t support Mahi. They also said that Jamaat-e-Islami was also against him. BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said that they had not taken any decision till then. It will be taken considering all the facts, he added. BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has not taken any decision till now. She will wait until Thursday. If the apex court rejects Mintoo’s appeal, then she will take decision in this regard, sources said. Mintoo’s wife Nasreen Fatema Awal along with her sons Tabith Awal and Tafsir Awal and their wives met Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan residence on Monday night. They held a nearly 40-minute meeting with the BNP Chief. They tried to convince the BNP Chief for extending support to Tabith. Sources said, Khaleda Zia had been annoyed with Mintoo for his ‘mysterious mistake’, and at the same time she is also taking it into consideration that Mahi’s party Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh is not part of the BNP-led alliance and most of the leaders of the BNP and alliance partners are opposing him. Mahi’s father Prof Dr AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury left the BNP and formed separate political party Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh. The matter is also in the consideration of the BNP. A reliable source said, there won’t be surprise if Bobby Hajjaj, son of industrialist Moosa Bin Shamsher and sacked special adviser of Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, gets the support of the BNP-led alliance in the DNCC’s mayor post. “Some are discussing for Bobby Hajjaj,” said a BNP leader. Admitting the matter, Bangladesh NAP leader Golam Mostafa Bhuiyan said that no decision had been taken till then. Ershad sacked Bobby Hajjaj after he announced his own candidacy for the mayor post in the DNCC polls.
