& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Hannan Shah taken aback

BNP to boycott voting

Rakib Hasnet Suman
BNP standing committee member Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah has apparently been taken aback by the party decision of boycotting the Gazipur byelection as he aspired to win back the parliamentary seat after about 15 years.
The opposition politician, however, said he would obey the party decision and sacrifice his aspirations for the sake of the
FROM PAGE 20
upcoming movement to compel the government to restore caretaker system.
"The decision has frustrated our leaders, workers and supporters since our victory was certain. But we will obey the decision as elections cannot be free and fair under the Awami League administration," Hannan Shah told The Daily Star yesterday.
The Gazipur-4 parliamentary seat was declared vacant after Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj had resigned as ruling AL lawmaker.
Since the 1996 general elections, the BNP has not
won this parliamentary seat. In 1991 Hannan Shah, also a former minister, was elected lawmaker from this constituency for the last time.
The national standing committee of the BNP on Monday night at a meeting decided not to take part in the upcoming byelection.
Standing committee member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman said it was a collective decision. "We won't do anything that may hamper our upcoming movement," he said while talking to The Daily Star.
Meeting sources say Hannan Shah had tried his
best to convince the his party leaders, to ensure his ticket to the by-election, but none of his colleagues in the standing committee stood beside him.
Even the BNP chairperson did not show any sympathy toward Hannan's appeal for not boycotting the by-election, which he believes "was a great opportunity to win back the seat from Awami League".
"I myself was the candidate and our workers became very enthusiastic to go to the election. The boycott decision will make them very frustrated," sources quoted Hannan Shah as
saying.
Hannan went on, "The Awami League will be defeated and we must win the seat. So we should not give up the race."
Senior leader Moudud Ahmed strongly opposed Hannan and said the party could not take part in the polls as it had already rejected the incumbent Election Commission.
"It will be contradictory if we take part in the by-polls," Moudud told the meeting.
The former minister said the chairperson had declared that a tougher movement will be forged after Eid-ul-Fitr to realise the
demand for a restoration of the caretaker government. Participation in any election will weaken the movement, he added.
"Increasing numbers in parliament by a seat will have no impact in politics," Moudud was quoted as saying at Monday's meeting and got support from other members of the committee.
Later BNP chief and Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia also extended her support to those against participation in the polls, frustrating Hannan Shah to the core, insiders say.