Dhaka:
If BNP does not participate in the upcoming Upazila Parishad elections, the ruling Awami League may open the way for other party candidates to run against the party candidate. Also, the Awami League will not have any alliance in this election. The party will participate in the elections by fielding candidates on a party-by-party basis.
Talking to some leaders at the policy-making level of the Awami League, it is known that it is still unclear whether BNP will participate in the elections. However, in this case, the Awami League is moving forward with two types of strategies. If BNP participates in the elections, the party will ensure a single candidate at any cost. The party will be strict in ensuring a single candidate, just like in the recently concluded National Parliament elections. And if BNP does not participate, then it will be open. Along with the party marker candidates, others from the party will also have the opportunity to become candidates. Awami League will nominate one person and if someone else from the party wants to be a candidate, they can become an independent candidate. In this case, the party will not prevent them.
The Awami League leaders also said that there is no possibility of participating in the upazila elections as an alliance. The 14 parties led by the Awami League and the partners of the grand alliance will participate in the elections separately with their respective party candidates. Although BNP will participate in this election, the leaders said that the 14 parties will participate in the elections separately. The Awami League did not field candidates in the last upazila elections as an alliance either.
When asked about this, Awami League presidium member Kazi Zafarullah said, "There is no possibility of an alliance election. Upazila elections are local government elections. We will participate in this election alone. There are already many Awami League candidates. There is no chance of an alliance here."
Upazila Parishad elections will be held in several phases next March. This is the first time that upazila elections are being held in this manner since the introduction of party-based elections and party symbols at the local government level. After the national elections on January 5, 2014, upazila elections were held in several phases starting in February. After that, the government enacted a law to hold local government elections in a party-based manner.
Several sources in the Awami League said that the preparations for the upazila elections have already started to continue the trend of the absolute victory in the national elections. A letter has been sent from the center to the district and upazila committees to start the process of candidate selection for the post of chairman. The letter, signed by Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on January 19, was sent to the party's district and upazila committee presidents and general secretaries. It asked them to send the names of the chairman candidates for the upazila elections.
Based on the opinions of local leaders and activists, if possible, one candidate should be finalized and the names sent. Otherwise, it has been instructed to send the names of a maximum of three candidates. The names should be sent by January 20.
Sources further said that party candidates will be nominated through scrutiny based on the names sent from the upazila level. Emphasis will be placed on ensuring that no one close to the MP or minister gets nominated, ignoring the opinions of relatives of the MP or minister or grassroots leaders and activists. For this reason, names have been asked to be sent from the upazila level with time in hand. After sending the names from there, they will also be scrutinized from the center.
In this regard, Awami League Presidium member Kazi Zafarullah said, there is a joint meeting of the Awami League Parliamentary Board and the Local Government Nomination Board next Saturday (January 26). In this meeting, the preparation issues and the issue of candidate nomination will be discussed and a direction may come. Work will be started accordingly. However, the interested candidates of our party have already entered the field.
English 
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