Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the new ministers not to take up unnecessary projects that waste money and to be cautious while making public comments so as not to stir controversy.

With the unofficial results of the 12th national polls out, the question now is what will the opposition in parliament look like.

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s strategy to make the election look competitive worked well, so much so that over a dozen heavyweights came tumbling down yesterday.

The Awami League will be fully focused on turnout as the nation heads to the polls today.

The fate of at least 18 cabinet members hangs in the balance as they are facing strong challenges from “Awami League independents” in tomorrow’s polls.

In a bid to make sure the next parliament looks like it has representatives from different political parties, the Awami league is asking its grassroots to support several aspirants from other parties.

Law enforcers are now setting their focus completely on January 7, the election day. They are particularly preparing contingency plans for the final hours of voting, as violence often erupts between supporters of rival candidates during this time.

Agriculture is an incredible success story for Bangladesh.

Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed has at least 260 properties in the United Kingdom for which he has paid at least GBP 134.76 million or Tk 1,888 crore, according to The Daily Star’s calculation from company filings publicly available on UK government websites.

The Awami League’s main focus will be on generating employment in order to make Bangladesh a developed nation by 2041, said several leaders involved in drafting of the party’s election manifesto.

One hundred forty-eight bhoris (1.72kgs) of gold worth Tk 40,000! Twenty bighas of land worth Tk 2,000! A five-katha plot in Barishal worth Tk 400! And a Baridhara flat worth Tk 1.3 lakh!

Despite a series of hectic meetings, repeated assurances, intense negotiations and nail-biting calculations, Awami League seems to have failed to satisfy its allies and electoral partners and, in many cases, even its own ranks.

The Awami League may not share any seat with the Jatiya Party in the upcoming polls, sources said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed doubt whether the main opposition Jatiya Party would keep its word and stay in the electoral race.

A crucial meeting between the Awami League and its 14-party allies ended last night without any concrete decisions on seat sharing.

The decision on Awami League’s seat-sharing with the 14-party alliance partners seems to be stalled over the demands from Bangladesh Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD).

Says Hasina in face of 14-party allies’ demand for ‘cakewalk’ in shared seats

The ruling Awami League yesterday told its alliance partners that decisions would be made about the share of seats in parliament, and then the 14-party alliance will participate in the election as a unit.

After more than 400 Awami League leaders joined the election race as independent candidates after getting an initial go-ahead from the party, the ruling party high-ups are now discussing how to rein some of them in to avoid chaos, party sources have said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina finds herself pitted against seven opponents in Goipalganj-3 constituency.