Defeats make BNP serious about municipal polls

The party high command has instructed its workers to take massive preparations, including mass contact, for the municipal polls to be held in March and April next year, highly placed BNP sources said.

The BNP under the influence of its current allies boycotted the municipal polls held in the first quarter of 1999 although many in the party wanted to contest. A top BNP leader admitted that the party suffered a setback by boycotting the 1999 polls and now "wants to restore its position".

The Local Government Division of the LGRD and cooperatives ministry has sent the Election Commission (EC) a list of the municipalities, whose tenures would end next year, mostly in March and April.

The ministry has also requested the EC to hold elections to these municipalities in time.

Official sources said elections to more than 300 municipalities would take place in less than a year.

A senior official of the ministry said the list was sent to the EC so that the commission gets adequate time for preparation.

Of the 281 municipalities, tenure of 47 will end in March and another 80 in the first week of April.

Besides, the tenures of five municipalities will end in May, one in June, two in July, three in August, one in October, six in November and December 2004.

The coalition government has created 34 new municipalities and 74 more are soon to be declared. Elections to the new municipalities will be held 'as soon as possible' and will not be run by administrators.

Elections to 15 municipalities could not be held due to legal complexities and court injunctions and steps have been taken to lift the legal bar, sources said.

The BNP has assessed that its candidates were defeated in recent municipal polls due to inner conflict and wrong selection of candidates.

"But now steps have been taken to revamp party activities and remove intra-party troubles, select eligible candidates and ensure victory of the BNP candidates in majority of the municipal polls," a BNP leader said.

"If we can win in a large number of municipalities, it would help in the next general elections," he said.