Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Rezwanul Haque Chowdhury Shovon and Golam Rabbani were removed last night from the posts of Chhatra League president and general secretary for their controversial activities.

Scores of Awami League leaders, who ran for upazila parishad chairman’s office as rebel candidates and won, are likely to lose their posts in the ruling party.

The day before August 21, 2004, Dhaka city Awami League leaders had an informal meeting with party chief Sheikh Hasina for her directives on the next day’s rally.

Deputy Commissioners want more power and benefits to have a stronger grip on the field-level administration. They have proposed that the government allow them to give executive magistrates powers that stem from some sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Catch a snatch of a conversation between party leaders of any level in Barguna and you will learn that Awami League politics in the district is actually the show of two men: Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu and Jahangir Kabir.

Nayan Bond used to run an illicit business with a network of over a hundred members of Facebook messenger group “007”. His close friend Rifat Sharif was killed by the Bond gang after he left the network. But what gave rise to the gang culture there and who are the patronisers?

At least 20 people took part in the murder of Rifat Sharif in Barguna on June 26, investigators said based on information gleaned from two accused arrested recently.

The Awami League has initiated a process to identify the BNP, Jamaat and Shibir men who have allegedly infiltrated the ruling party in the last few years to make a fortune or to avoid lawsuits.

India wants to deploy “armed sky marshals” on flights of Indian carriers between India and Bangladesh.

The ruling Awami League has decided to have around 6,000 party offices with modern facilities at all city, district, upazila, thana and municipalities headquarters, and at union levels to strengthen its organisational structure.

Around eight years ago, Md Ebadot Ali was promoted to acting secretary. But he was made an officer on special duty (OSD) on October 10, 2011 when he was discharging his duties as the acting secretary at the-then Railway Division under the communication ministry.

Sheikh Hasina, who is set to take oath today as the prime minister for the third consecutive term, has dropped most of her colleagues in the outgoing cabinet, aiming to inject fresh blood in her new government.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who led her party to a landslide victory in the national election, may come up with a surprise by inducting new faces into the cabinet, likely to be formed on Sunday.

The Awami League has instructed its grassroots leaders and activists to be on high alert on the voting day to thwart any attempt to foil tomorrow's election.

The ruling Awami League's election manifesto will make promises of strengthening democracy, rule of law and ridding the country of corruption under the tagline “Bangladesh on the March of Prosperity”.

The ruling Awami League is yet to finalise its seat-sharing with electoral allies despite having a series of meetings with several of them yesterday. The ruling party could not reach a consensus with its ally Jatiya Party, a major component of the grand alliance that won a landslide in the 2008 polls, insiders said.

SM Shahjada Saju, nephew of Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, has been primarily selected as the ruling Awami League's nominee for Patuakhali-3 in the upcoming election, multiple party sources said.

Some incumbent Awami League lawmakers and top leaders are unlikely to get party nomination this time, as the ruling party has decided to part with controversial and unpopular candidates, multiple sources have said.

The Awami League is willing to offer its 14-party allies 15 seats -- the number of constituencies they currently hold -- against their demand for 120, said one of the alliance leaders.

Clean image, popularity and acceptability -- these are the key selection criteria the ruling Awami League has set for candidates in the December 30 national election.