The BNP’s top leaders are irked and dismayed at the cancellation of Abdul Awal Mintoo’s nomination papers.
They see this as a big setback for the party even before the polls campaign begin. The matter is being discussed within and outside of the party.
The returning officer of Dhaka North City Corporation on Wednesday cancelled Mintoo’s nomination papers. He said that Mintoo’s supporter Abdur Razzak was not a resident of Dhaka North and so his nomination papers were cancelled. The election commission law is that the candidate, the proposer and the supporter must all be voters of the same area.
There are speculations as well that Mintoo deliberately made this error so that his son could be candidate. His son Tabith has submitted nomination papers for the office of mayor, too, and his papers were accepted.
A section of the BNP’s leaders said that Mintoo was actually not interested in contesting as mayor. He is with the BNP as an advisor to the party chairperson. He also has connections with the government.
Mintoo’s second son’s father-in-law is the prime minister’s international affairs advisor Gowher Rizvi. Many of BNP leaders are eyeing the cancellation of Mintoo’s nominations suspiciously because of this relationship. Others say that he has fielded his son in the election to give him exposure and establish him politically.
A BNP standing committee member told Prothom Alo, on condition of anonymity, that there are questions as to whether he intentionally made this mistake due to his relationship with the prime minister’s advisor. After all, Mintoo is known to be a very careful and organised man.
However, another standing committee member of the party, Zamiruddin Sircar, said that the error made in Mintoo’s case is a trivial one. He did not violate the law, though it was an irregularity. This can be rectified by selecting a supporter from the election area. It is not true that he intentionally made the error so as to promote his son’s candidature.
Former speaker Sircar pointed out that Mintoo had long been interested in the office of mayor. The party too had kept this in mind for long. If there was to be an intentional error, it would have been in his name or number.
Another standing committee member of BNP Mahbubur Rahman said, the election commission had cancelled the papers on a trivial cause. He has a clean image and this error could have been overlooked.
Mintoo’s family sources said, Mintoo’s sons are busy with their father’s case and legal matters. His office persons were looking after the nomination papers. This error did not catch anyone’s eye. The family is looking into the matter.
Mintoo himself was taken aback at his papers being cancelled. His personal employees who are in touch with him cried at the news. Mintoo is disappointed, though he has not made any statement.
Several leaders of the BNP said that the party had asked him to prepare for the election. He accordingly collected the nomination papers. At the last moment, however, the BNP chairperson asked him to select an alternative candidate. Mintoo suggested the name of party joint secretary general Barkat Ullah (Bulu). But as the chairpersons did not agree, he suggested his son’s name. His son’s Tabith submitted nomination papers as mayoral candidate.
Former FBCCI president Abdul Awal Mintoo has long been aspiring to be mayor of Dhaka. He has been researching, thinking and writing about Dhaka city. In fact, it is said that he left Awami League and joined the BNP in order to become mayor.
Source: Prothom Alo