Rehennuma Tarannum Rifat:

Like other parts of the country, contestants of six constituencies in Sirajganj have engaged in tight race to get victory in the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election scheduled for February 12.

According to the views of election experts, there are possibility of tight contests among the candidates of BNP and Jama’at Islami Bangladesh in the six separate constituencies.

The actual feature of the electoral field has been presented here for our valued readers.

SIRAJGANJ-1 CONSTITUENCY (KAZIPUR AND A PART OF SIRAJGANJ SADAR):

Once, locals knew that the constituency is the den of Awami League. But now, the scenario has been changed. After the fall of the Awami League government, a new horizon has opened up here for other political parties, especially for the BNP and Jama’at.

According to the government records, Shafiqul Islam was elected on behalf of the Jatiya Party in the election on March 3, 1988. Later, Mohammad Nasim, son of former Prime Minister Captain M Mansur Ali, was elected from this seat in 1986, 1991, 2001, 2014 and 2018. In 1996, Mohammad Selim was elected from the seat, while Engineer Tanvir Shakil Joy, son of Mohammad Nasim was elected from the seat in 2008 and 2020 by polls and 2024.

Due to long rule of Awami League, there was no existence of BNP or Jama’at. According to the field level survey, BNP and Jama’at men were highly repressed during the Awami League regime. After ousting of AL, BNP and Jama’at have stranded around. This time, six candidates have taken part in the election. Of them, BNP nominated candidate Selim Reza and Jama’at nominated candidate Shahinur Alam are the main contestants for the constituency. However, general voters are showing interest to vote for Selim Reza as he is known as very honest, sincere and sacrificing leader of the local BNP. There are a total of 385,024 voters in the constituency.

SIRAJGANJ-2 CONSTITUENCY (SIRAJGANJ SADAR AND KAMARKHANDA):

This is the highly important constituency in the district. Besides, this constituency is known as the den of BNP. As per the public opinion, Ikbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, also member of BNP’s standing committee has remained forward compared to other candidates from different parties. Tuku won the seat in the election of 1986 and 2001. In 2008, he could not contest in the poll due to legal complexity. At that time, his wife Rumana Mahmud took part in the election and got a landslide victory. In 2014 and 2018, Dr Habib-e-Millat Munna grabbed the seat and Jannat Ara Talukder Henry won the seat in the so-called election in 2024. This time, Jahidul Islam, General Secretary of Jama’at district unit is playing vital role as a main contestant against Tuku. But local voters seem that, Tuku will win the seat in distance of big quantities of votes.

SIRAJGANJ-3 (RAIGANJ AND TARASH):

This seat is also known as a heaven of BNP. Late Abdul Mannan Talukder, a veteran BNP leader was a pioneer for this seat. Former student leader VP-Aynul Haque, also a sacrificing BNP leader is now contesting for this seat against 10-party alliance nominated candidate Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis leader Abdur Rouf Sarker. Rouf Sarker was nominated after removing Jama’at leader Mohammad Abdus Samad. As a result, there is no chance of getting victory by 10 party alliance leader climbing VP Aynul, voters opined.

SIRAJGANJ-4 (ULLAPARA):

Ullapara is another important constituency among others in Sirajganj district. From this seat, AL candidate Dabir Uddin got victory in 1973, while veteran AL leader and Bir FF Abdul Latif Mirza got victory in 1986 and 1996, Shafiqul Islam Shafiq in 2008 and 2024, Tanvir Imam, son of late HT Imam in 2014 and 2018.

Besides this, in 1988, Abdul Hamid Talukder won the seat on behalf of Jatiya Party, while BNP leader M Akbar Ali was elected in 1991 and 2001 from here. In 1996, independent candidate Shamsul Alam was elected for the seat. But now, a hard contest is going to be held for this seat between BNP leader M Akbar Ali and Jama’at central leader Moulana Rafiqul Islam Khan. General voters are now almost confused over selecting their right lawmaker from the both heavy weight candidates.

M Akbar Ali is known as Education enthusiast in the area. In contrary, Rafiqul Alam Khan is a central leader of Jama’at. Both the contestants are now going to race hard.

SIRAJGANJ-5 CONSTITUENCY (BELKUCHI AND CHOWHALI):

This is a Jamuna erosion prone and handloom industry rich constituency. From 1986 to 2024, 10 national parliamentary elections were held in the constituency. In this circumstance, BNP candidates were elected three times, Jatiya Party twice and Awami League five times.

Mofiz Uddin Talukder was elected as a Member of Parliament after being nominated from Jatiya Party in 1986, while Shahidul Islam Khan was elected from the same party in 1988, Shahidullah Khan from BNP in 1991 and 1996, and M Mozammel Haque from BNP in 2001.

On the other hand, Abdul Latif Biswas was elected for the seat from Awami League in 1996 and 2008, Abdul Majid Mondal in 2014 and his son Abdul Momin Mondal in 2018 and 2024.

BNP’s Rajshahi divisional Co-organizing Secretary Amirul Islam Khan Alim is desperate to regain the lost seat. But his big opponent is Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat-e-Islami’s candidate for this seat is Central Shura member and District Nayeb-e-Amir Principal Ali Alam. He was the Chairman of Belkuchi Upazila Parishad from 2009 to 2014.

National Citizen Party (NCP) Joint Member Secretary Mahin and former State Minister for Water Resources Major (retd) Manzur Quader are now working for him.

SIRAJGANJ-6 CONSTITUENCY (SHAHZADPUR):

The constituency consists of 13 unions and one municipality. Barring the unilateral elections of the Awami League, this constituency has always been known as a stronghold of BNP. This time, BNP has nominated Dr. MA Muhith, Advisor of District BNP and son of former Home Minister of the Jatiya Party government Dr. MA Matin. He is quite popular with the root level leaders, activists and voters.

On the other hand, NCP’s central joint member secretary SM Saif Mostafiz, son of Mostafizur Rahman Monir, joint general secretary of the district BNP, is in the field as the candidate of the 10-party alliance. He has been replaced of Jamaat-e-Islami professor Maulana Mizanur Rahman.