Nahid Islam, who recently resigned as an adviser to the interim government to become convener of the newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP), has announced that he will contest in the upcoming national election from Dhaka — his first such declaration since entering politics nine months ago. Speaking on Sunday, 2 November, Nahid confirmed his intention to run but did not reveal from which constituency.
His ancestral home is in Fakirkandi under Badda Police Station, while his permanent address is in South Banasree — both located within Dhaka-11 constituency. This makes it almost certain that the NCP leader will contest from Dhaka-11.
In the same constituency, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is expected to field heavyweight contender MA Quayum, the party’s central microcredit affairs secretary and former convener of BNP’s Dhaka North unit. Facing numerous legal cases under previous Awami League governments, Quayum had moved to Malaysia for several years. In the 2018 national election, when BNP participated, his wife Shamim Begum contested from Dhaka-11 as the party’s nominee.
For the upcoming polls, both Quayum and his wife, along with another aspirant, AGM Shamsul Islam, have sought BNP nomination. However, local party members believe Quayum remains the frontrunner due to his close ties with the central leadership. His posters already blanket the constituency.
If BNP and NCP contest separately, Nahid Islam will face a formidable opponent in Quayum. Residents of the area describe the race as “uneven” under such a scenario.
Jamaat-e-Islami is also fielding a candidate — Atiqur Rahman. Yet, as in most parts of Dhaka, the Islamist party’s support base is weak. In the 1996 election, when Jamaat ran independently, its candidates in the two Dhaka constituencies of that time (Dhaka-5 and Dhaka-6) received only 2.64% and 3% of the vote, respectively.
Therefore, even if NCP were to ally with Jamaat and nominate Nahid Islam from the seat, his chances of victory would remain slim.
That leaves open the question of a BNP-NCP alliance. While NCP has declared plans to nominate candidates in all 300 constituencies, it has also kept the door open for electoral alliances. Political circles say the two parties have been holding behind-the-scenes negotiations for weeks.
Initially, NCP leaders reportedly demanded more than 10 constituencies, while BNP offered two. After prolonged discussions, sources indicate that an agreement may have been reached to allow NCP to contest in six constituencies under a joint arrangement.
If finalised, NCP Convener Nahid Islam would be one of those six candidates, meaning BNP would cede the Dhaka-11 seat to him. In that case, BNP heavyweight MA Quayum could be shifted to the neighbouring Dhaka-12 constituency.
However, there are also reports that BNP plans to allocate Dhaka-12 to Ganosamhati Andolon chief coordinator Zonayed Saki — another potential alliance partner. As seat-sharing negotiations continue, BNP insiders admit that Quayum could ultimately lose his bid altogether.
