As campaigning intensifies in Dhaka-14 and Dhaka-15, candidates are focusing on development promises and claims of local belonging, even as voter calculations remain uncertain.
In Dhaka-14, the race has evolved into a three-cornered contest, with BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and independent candidate Syed Abu Bakar Siddique (Saju) vying for support. Siddique’s entry, despite his prior association with BNP, has unsettled the party’s vote arithmetic and created hesitation among some supporters. Local residents expressed confusion over whether loyalty to the BNP symbol would outweigh familiarity with Siddique, who has maintained a long-standing presence in the area, particularly around Darus Salam.
BNP nominee Sanjida Islam Tuli has run a structured campaign, combining street-level meetings, rallies, and online outreach, while Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Mir Ahmad bin Qasem has leveraged religious institutions and established community networks, reaching spaces less accessible to Tuli. Siddique, presenting himself as a locally rooted figure, has further complicated voter dynamics by blending familiarity with independent positioning.
Both Dhaka-14 candidates have unveiled development agendas. Tuli pledged road and drainage upgrades, canal restoration, science-based mosquito control, expanded healthcare and maternal services, social protection, and action against extortion and land grabbing. Arman outlined accountability measures, bridge construction, a standalone university at Mirpur Bangla College, women-led community policing units, and a digital platform to combat “silent extortion.”
In Dhaka-15, the contest is largely a binary one between BNP’s Md Shafiqul Islam Khan and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer Shafiqur Rahman. Shafiqur Rahman has drawn crowds through door-to-door outreach and street interactions, while Shafiqul Islam Khan has emphasised his deep local roots as the key to sustainable development. Both candidates have rolled out infrastructure promises, including drainage reforms, street lighting, CCTV coverage, and technical training centres.
As election day approaches, both constituencies remain shaped not only by development pledges, but also by how voters reconcile party allegiance, local identity, and an increasingly fluid political landscape.
