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I’m a Sylheti, not an outsider

Polls environment still not fair
After incumbent Mayor Ariful Haque Choudhury quit the race, the major mayor contenders for the city polls are Awami League’s Md Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury and Jatiya Party’s Md Nazrul Islam. The Daily Star’s Dwoha Chowdhury talked to them about their aspirations and plans.
DS: How will you approach voters ahead of the city polls?
Anwaruzzaman: It is tough to reach all the voters in person but we have divided the city into four zones and formed ward and centre committees to reach every voter. I’m also meeting different groups of professionals and notable personalities of the city.
DS: Senior Awami League leaders, even the voters, mentioned you as an “outsider”. What do you think about that?
Anwaruzzaman: My home is in Sylhet’s Osmaninazar upazila, which is just 17 kilometres away from the city. The two previous mayors are originally from other districts, while I have been a Sylheti for generations.
I started my political career in Sylhet City in 1985. For decades, I was involved with AL’s politics in the country and abroad. In the previous national election, I campaigned for AK Momen and I was the coordinator of the electoral campaign for the AL candidate in the 2018 city polls. I don’t believe for a moment that I’m the outsider here.
DS: In the 2018 city polls, AL was faced with an internal candidate which supposedly led to its candidate’s defeat. What is your opinion on the matter?
Anwarzzaman: I don’t believe that any AL leader or activist will ever betray me. Those who spoke against me in the early days are with me now.
DS: Are you feeling any pressure after the result of the Gazipur City Polls?
DS: How are you approaching the voters ahead of the city polls?
Nazrul: We are still preparing a plan for the campaign to reach all voters.
DS: You have recently alleged an unfair electoral environment. What were the reasons and how is the situation now?
Nazrul: The election is supposed to be free and fair. However, in Gazipur City Polls, we saw that the polls ended at 4:00pm but the result was declared at 1:30am. Such delay creates a suspicion.
My competitor AL candidate has been violating electoral rules. He appeared with around a hundred leaders while submitting nominations. Even though I filed a formal complaint to the Returning Officer, no action was taken.
The AL candidate was also seen moving with uniformed police escorts which shows the partiality of the administration.
DS: After you were nominated by the party, another aspirant in a press conference alleged that you bought the nomination for Tk 1 crore. Do you think such an allegation will impact the unity of the party?
Nazrul: The aspirant is a US expatriate and he has already been expelled from the party for his false allegation. These people should be expelled from the party and their stand will not impact the party unity in any way.
DS: You have recently visited Mayor Ariful Haque Choudhury at his residence. Were you trying to seek his support?
Nazrul: Ariful Haque Chowdhury is a respected politician who sacrificed his position on the instruction of the party. I paid a casual visit to his house. But I believe that the votes in favour of BNP will be cast to JP’s symbol “Plough” due to the anti-AL sentiment.