Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Agriculture is an incredible success story for Bangladesh.

Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed has at least 260 properties in the United Kingdom for which he has paid at least GBP 134.76 million or Tk 1,888 crore, according to The Daily Star’s calculation from company filings publicly available on UK government websites.

The Awami League’s main focus will be on generating employment in order to make Bangladesh a developed nation by 2041, said several leaders involved in drafting of the party’s election manifesto.

One hundred forty-eight bhoris (1.72kgs) of gold worth Tk 40,000! Twenty bighas of land worth Tk 2,000! A five-katha plot in Barishal worth Tk 400! And a Baridhara flat worth Tk 1.3 lakh!

Despite a series of hectic meetings, repeated assurances, intense negotiations and nail-biting calculations, Awami League seems to have failed to satisfy its allies and electoral partners and, in many cases, even its own ranks.

The Awami League may not share any seat with the Jatiya Party in the upcoming polls, sources said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed doubt whether the main opposition Jatiya Party would keep its word and stay in the electoral race.

A crucial meeting between the Awami League and its 14-party allies ended last night without any concrete decisions on seat sharing.

The decision on Awami League’s seat-sharing with the 14-party alliance partners seems to be stalled over the demands from Bangladesh Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD).

Says Hasina in face of 14-party allies’ demand for ‘cakewalk’ in shared seats

The ruling Awami League yesterday told its alliance partners that decisions would be made about the share of seats in parliament, and then the 14-party alliance will participate in the election as a unit.

After more than 400 Awami League leaders joined the election race as independent candidates after getting an initial go-ahead from the party, the ruling party high-ups are now discussing how to rein some of them in to avoid chaos, party sources have said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina finds herself pitted against seven opponents in Goipalganj-3 constituency.

Many Awami League nominees find themselves in a dicey situation, as they may have to face a tough challenge from party colleagues running as independents or incur the high command’s wrath for an uncontested win.

AL leaders seeking to run as independents must get the party’s nod

The Awami League yesterday unveiled its list of 298 nominees, and three incumbent ministers and 68 other lawmakers did not make the cut.

The 14-party allies will demand the Awami League set aside more seats for them this time but the ruling party will assign fewer seats to them compared to the last national election, sources in the AL said.

Former state minister for information and broadcasting Murad Hassan, who had to resign from cabinet for his misogynistic and abusive remarks, has not got the Awami League ticket to run for parliament this time.

Star cricketer Shakib Al Hasan is set to start a new career in politics as he got the ruling Awami League’s ticket to run for parliament from Magura-1 constituency.

The BNP appears to be in for even tougher times in the next few weeks with the government going all out to make sure the party does not gain momentum in its oust-the-government movement.