The country’s largest political force, BNP, is facing mounting internal pressure ahead of the 13th national parliamentary election, as at least 76 rebel candidates remain in the race despite repeated warnings, negotiations, and expulsions by the party leadership.
Party sources say these candidates have defied direct instructions from the BNP high command by refusing to withdraw their nomination papers. They are preparing to contest the election in direct competition with the party’s official candidates running under the Sheaf of Paddy symbol. In several constituencies, more than one rebel candidate is contesting against the same official BNP nominee.
Although some candidates withdrew their nominations after holding discussions with BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, party officials admit that the number of withdrawals has been limited. But the rest remained in race.
On Wednesday night, BNP expelled all rebel candidates for defying party orders and stayed in the race, raising fears of vote splits and damaging the party’s prospects ahead of the 12 February election.
Allegations have emerged from within the party that the unusually high number of rebels is linked to flaws in the nomination process, particularly the failure to properly assess grassroots-level surveys.
The situation has caused concern at the highest levels of the party. However, a senior BNP leader said that once candidates are expelled, the party no longer has anything to say about them.
Another senior leader warned that the presence of multiple rebel candidates in the same constituency could seriously undermine the party’s prospects. He said these rebels are expected to campaign against the official Sheaf of Paddy candidates in the same way rival party candidates would.
“If candidates from rival parties and rebels from within the BNP come together, it will become extremely difficult for the Sheaf of Paddy candidate to survive,” he said. “Votes will be divided, and this could have a major impact on the final result. In many cases, a candidate who was likely to win could lose by a narrow margin.”
Party insiders say discussions are continuing internally about how to address the crisis, but there is growing uncertainty about what can realistically be done at such a late stage.
The problem has also complicated BNP’s seat-sharing arrangements with its allies. For the 13th parliamentary election, the party has allocated 17 seats to its coalition partners. Under the revised Representation of the People Order (RPO), registered allies are contesting under their own party symbols, while unregistered allies are contesting under the BNP’s Sheaf of Paddy symbol.
As part of its electoral strategy, BNP has brought several allied party leaders into its own ranks and nominated them under the Sheaf of Paddy symbol. Under the agreement, eight top alliance leaders are contesting on the BNP symbol, while nine leaders from six registered allied parties are running under their own party symbols.
Of the 12 parties that have been allocated seats, all except Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh have been BNP’s partners in the joint movement for the past 17 years.
However, even in seats allocated to allies, rebel candidates have refused to withdraw. Although 20 January was the final deadline for nomination withdrawals, many of these candidates remained in the race.
Election officials have already allocated symbols to all candidates, including rebels and independents. Party insiders warn that even if rebel candidates now withdraw, their names will remain on the ballot papers. This, they say, could confuse voters on polling day, scheduled for 12 February.
Several alliance candidates and BNP’s own official nominees have privately expressed anger towards the party high command, arguing that the situation could have been avoided if decisive action had been taken earlier. They believe that stricter measures against rebels would have reduced their number.
Some candidates remain in the race despite meeting the party chairman. Among them are Saiful Alam Nirob, former convener of BNP’s Dhaka North city unit, who is contesting as an independent in Dhaka-12, and SA Siddiq Saju, convener of the Darus Salam thana BNP, who is running in Dhaka-14. Both have been expelled.
The BNP has allocated the Dhaka-12 seat to Saiful Haque of the Revolutionary Workers Party, while in Dhaka-14, the party has nominated Sanjida Islam Tuli as its Sheaf of Paddy candidate.
In Brahmanbaria-6, former MP Abdul Khaleque is contesting as an independent against Gonosamhati Andolon leader Zunaid Saki. Khaleque has been expelled. In Brahmanbaria-1, Syed AK Ekramuzzaman is contesting as an independent against the BNP’s official nominee.
In Patuakhali-3, the BNP has given the seat to Nurul Haque Nur, president of Gono Odhikar Parishad. However, Hasan Mamun is contesting there as an independent after failing to secure the Sheaf of Paddy symbol. He has since been expelled.
Rashed Khan, who resigned from Gono Odhikar Parishad and joined BNP, is contesting as the BNP candidate in Jhenaidah-4. In the same constituency, Saiful Islam Firoz, senior joint secretary of the Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal, is running as an independent and has been expelled.
In Manikganj-3 (Saturia–Manikganj Sadar), district BNP member Ataur Rahman Ata is contesting as an independent. A former senior vice-president of the district BNP and a two-time upazila chairman, he has also been expelled. The party has nominated Afroza Khanam Rita there.
The BNP has allocated Brahmanbaria-2 to Jamiat’s vice-president Junayed Al Habib. However, former BNP assistant international affairs secretary Rumin Farhana is contesting independently. She has been expelled but says she remains optimistic about winning.
Under the seat-sharing arrangement, Nagorik Oikya president Mahmudur Rahman Manna was initially nominated in Bogura-2 (Shibganj). However, BNP also has a candidate in that constituency. District officials have confirmed Mir Shahe Alam as the BNP nominee. Manna faced legal obstacles due to loan default allegations but later secured clearance. He subsequently took nomination in Dhaka-18, where a BNP candidate is also contesting.
Several rebel candidates, speaking anonymously, said grassroots surveys were either flawed or ignored. They claim the party high command failed to properly verify candidates before awarding nominations. Many believe they will receive more votes than the official BNP nominees and say they are contesting at the request of local party activists and residents.
They remain confident of victory and say they are maintaining close contact with supporters on the ground.
However, the party leadership insists that discipline will be enforced. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told TIMES of Bangladesh that those who contested as independents or rebels were repeatedly urged to reconsider.
“Many withdrew or reached understandings after following party instructions,” he said. “Those who did not had to face strict organisational measures, including expulsion.”
Party sources say expulsions are continuing almost daily. So far, at least 14 candidates have been removed from the party—11 earlier and three more recently—with more expulsions expected if necessary.
Nagorik Oikya president Mahmudur Rahman Manna said, “The BNP candidate remains in my seat. There is now no scope for a solution. The party nominated their candidate ignoring me.”
Meanwhile, Mir Shahe Alam, president of the BNP’s Shibganj upazila unit in Bogura, said, “The party has nominated me. Why the seat was not given to the alliance is something only the party can explain.”
With polling day approaching, BNP now faces the challenge of containing the political fallout of this internal revolt while trying to project unity to voters. How far the rebellion will affect the party’s overall electoral prospects remains one of the major unanswered questions of the 13th parliamentary election.
