Nominate politically active candidates for election

They also urged the party chief Sheikh Hasina to take organisational action against the three MPs and nominate politically active candidates for the upcoming general election to ensure victory.

The leaders aired their grievances at a closed-door meeting with Hasina, also the leader of the opposition in parliament, at the party's Dhanmondi office in the city yesterday.

"We have criticised Dr Awlad Uddin MP and Prof Abdul Mannan MP for their inactivity in local politics," ABM Ashraf Ali, joint convenor of Pakunda upazila AL, told The Daily Star after the meeting.

"Dr Awlad has not visited his area since long while Mannan does not interact with the local leaders any longer due to his old-age complications," he said.

Abdul Malek Sarkar, general secretary of Fulbari upazila AL, told Hasina not to nominate those who are not politically active and only seek nomination ahead of the election.

He said the leaders of Mymensingh have criticised Altaf Hossain Golondaz MP for not keeping relations with the local leaders.

They alleged that although nine party men were killed and at least 120 false cases were filed against the party workers, Golondaz remained indifferent to these issues and tried to foment factional rivalry to establish his supremacy.

They also informed the party chief that there are intra-party conflicts at Fulbari and Gafargaon upazilas over nominations.

According to meeting sources, Hasina has assured the local leaders of forming a sub-committee to look into the complaints and take organisational action.

On the fourth day of the meeting, leaders from Mymensingh and Kishoreganj districts exchanged views with the party chief. Leaders of Faridpur, Rajbari, Shariatpur, Madaripur and Gopalganj will meet Hasina today.

At yesterday's meeting, a leader from Kishoreganj also criticised the deputy leader of the opposition Abdul Hamid MP, who is the president of the district AL, for failing to form a committee in an upazila.

Khalilur Rahman, general secretary of Itna upazila AL, said intra-party conflicts over nominations are brewing in four constituencies under Kishoreganj.

The leaders also submitted organisational reports along with their grievances against the MPs and requested the AL president to take effective measures to strengthen party activities and reorganise the party at local level to avoid any debacle.

Hasina directed the party leaders to work together, instead of trying to establish supremacy in their constituencies, to ensure victory in the next election.

Before the meeting, Hasina said that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been hatching a conspiracy to rig the election and become the president.

She also strongly criticised Khaleda for deceiving the primary school teachers and misbehaving with them.

The prime minister has reneged on her promise by not nationalising the jobs of teachers, she said.

The AL president urged the leaders, workers and countrymen to make the June 11 Dhaka siege programme a success and to intensify the ongoing movement to realise the demand for electoral reforms.