Awami League activities are currently banned, and the party is not contesting this election. Jamaat-e-Islami, however, has drawn attention by fielding Krishna Nandi, a candidate from the minority community, for the first time. BNP’s candidate here is Amir Ejaz Khan, who has contested three times before but never won. A total of 12 candidates are contesting in this constituency, eight of whom belong to minority communities.
The voter composition explains why there are so many minority candidates. The constituency has 307,000 voters. According to the 2022 census, 54.44 per cent of Dakop’s population is Hindu, while in Batiaghata the figure is 27.56 per cent.
In past elections, BNP maintained a competitive position. In the 2001 and 2008 elections, BNP candidates were the nearest rivals. In 1991 and 1996, candidates from the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) were the closest competitors to the winning Awami League candidates. Jamaat’s position here has traditionally been weak. In the 1996 election, Jamaat candidate Sheikh Md Abu Yusuf received only 2,308 votes.
Initially, Jamaat announced Abu Yusuf as its candidate for the 13th parliamentary election. Later, on 3 December, the party nominated Krishna Nandi, president of Jamaat’s Dumuria Upazila Hindu Committee.
Local residents say that earlier everyone assumed BNP would easily win this seat. But Jamaat’s nomination of Krishna Nandi has now made the contest appear competitive.
BNP candidate Amir Ejaz Khan is telling voters that Awami League has won repeatedly in the past, and since Awami League is not contesting this time and he has run three times before, voters should support him now.
