Staff Correspondent, Bogura
‘I know, my friends, who are in BNP, they all want to go for vote. All former MPs want it, but can’t. I dared to take the risk.’ After submitting nomination as an independent candidate in Bogura-4 constituency, former member of parliament of BNP Ziaul Haque Mollah said this to the media, terming the party’s decision not to go to the polls as a mistake.
Pointing to the acting chairman of the party, Tarique Rahman, he said, ‘I can say with certainty that none of the senior leaders of the party, including the general secretary, are comfortable in BNP now. They act against their will. I am participating in this election to get out of this politics of slavery.’
On Wednesday (November 29) afternoon, this former member of parliament who was elected four times from BNP submitted nomination papers as an independent candidate to Kahalu Upazila Executive Officer and Assistant Returning Officer Marina Afroz.
His father Azizul Haque Mollah was elected from BNP in the 1991 parliamentary elections. When he died in 1993, Ziaul Haque Mollah was elected Member of Parliament in a by-election. From then until 2006, he was a BNP party member of parliament in Bogura-4 constituency.
BNP gave him party nomination in 2018 but later withdrew it and gave it to Musharraf Hossain, who was elected Member of Parliament in that election and resigned in December 2022.
Criticizing the party’s nomination process, Ziaul Haque Mollah said, ‘I was a good student. I was in government service. I didn’t even think about coming into politics. After my father passed away, Begum Khaleda Zia (BNP Chairperson) took my mother’s hand and requested me to enter politics. I quit my job and joined politics on her orders. Participated in the election and won. There is no black spot in my life in these four term elections. There is no decrease in my popularity. Even then I was not nominated. I can also have anger and pride.’
He pointed out the misfortune of several other BNP leaders being deprived of nomination in the last election and said, ‘Human traffickers have been picked up from the streets somewhere and nominated. Somewhere the businessman has been nominated. So I think this BNP is not on the right track.’
In response to a question, he claimed that the elections will be fair and impartial due to various reasons including pressure from abroad. In that case, he hoped to win.