Nominated by Jatiyo Party, supported by Awami League!

Jatiyo Party chairman GM Quader and secretary general Mujibul Haque Chunnu claimed on several occasions that their party has no consensus with the ruling Awami League regarding the upcoming national elections.

Ironically, Chunnu's poster for his election campaign in Kishoreganj-3 (Tarail and Karimganj upazilas) introduces him as "Jatiyo Party nominated, and Awami League supported" candidate.

The same was seen in case of several JP aspirants in different constituencies that were vacated by the ruling AL.

This comes in stark contrast to what the party has long been claiming, that it is not contesting the polls with any alliance or through any understanding with AL.

Azizul Huq Bhuiyan Motahar, president of Tarail upazila AL unit, and Golam Kabir Bhuiyan, an independent aspirant from Kishoreganj-3, have filed separate complaints against Chunnu to the Election Commission through the district's Returning Officer in this regard.

Contacted, AL joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said JP candidates cannot use such words in their posters "as they are not AL-supported candidates".

"Using of such words reflects how bankrupt they have become as a party," he added.

Earlier, following a series of discussions with AL, JP managed to get 26 seats where the ruling party agreed not to field any candidates.

Of those 26 seats, JP candidates in at least 15 have either written in their posters that they are "AL-supported candidate" or "candidate of grand alliance".

This has raised questions and confusion among local AL leaders and activists.

Asked regarding Chunnu's claim to be an AL-supported candidate, Nasirul Islam Khan, who withdrew his candidature from AL, said his withdrawal from polls does not mean that AL has extended its support to Chunnu.

Ershad Uddin, a local AL leader in Kishorganj, said, "Chunnu has been always saying that they are the opposition party. If it is so, then how is an opposition party candidate supported by the ruling party? He cannot write this in his poster. JP candidates are misleading voters in this way. It is unethical."

Asked, GM Quader said Chunnu and other JP leaders have been instructed to remove those posters.

Prof Shantanu Majumder of Dhaka University said, "This only proves that Jatiyo Party has no confidence and is not self-dependent as a political party."

"We will have to see how the party leaders and activists take the matter that their party is surviving by leaning onto another political party [AL]," he added.

Several JP leaders, wishing anonymity, said the party has no significant vote banks, so some JP candidates have written such words in their posters to attract AL voters in their favour.

Contacted, Chunnu claimed, "Those who had the posters printed got those words written by mistake. We have asked them to stop it."