Electioneering gathers momentum in Khulna-6

Electioneering has gathered momentum in the Khulna-6 constituency, comprising Koyra and Paikgachha upazilas of the district, with the contest widely expected to be fought mainly between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

Although candidates from five political parties, excluding the Awami League, are contesting the coastal constituency, one of the country’s disaster-prone areas, the campaign activities of BNP and Jamaat candidates are the most visible on the ground. Both parties are actively courting voters with a range of development promises.

As the Awami League held the seat for three consecutive terms in the past, BNP and Jamaat candidates are now focusing on attracting Awami League supporters beyond their traditional vote banks. On the one hand, BNP is aiming to reclaim the seat and strengthen its political foothold, while on the other hand, Jamaat leaders appeared confident, citing the party’s past electoral success in the area.

According to the District Election Office, Khulna-6 has a total of 418,734 voters, 210,209 male, 208,524 female and one transgender voter, spread across 155 polling stations.

The candidates contesting in the seat are-- BNP Acting Member Secretary of the district unit Monirul Hasan Bappi; Jamaat-e-Islami Central Working Committee Member and Assistant Director for the Khulna region Maulana Abul Kalam Azad; Md Asadullah Fakir of Islami Andolan Bangladesh; Prashant Kumar Mondal of the Communist Party of Bangladesh; and Md Mustafa Kamal Jahangir of the Jatiya Party.

Jamaat-e-Islami has a longstanding presence in the constituency, having won the seat twice in the past as part of alliance politics. BNP leaders and activists, meanwhile, are campaigning intensively to revive what they describe as the party’s past glory in the area.

However, some voters have expressed dissatisfaction over the actions of certain leaders and activists from both parties following events after 5 August.

Speaking to reporters, BNP candidate Monirul Hasan Bappi said the people of the coastal Koyra-Paikgachha region have long been deprived of development. “If elected, I will work to establish a tourist centre, a 250-bed hospital, a sustainable embankment, create jobs for unemployed youth, curb forest robberies in the Sundarbans, and ensure safe drinking water,” he said. He also claimed that BNP enjoys strong public support in the constituency.

On the contrary, Jamaat candidate Maulana Abul Kalam Azad said his party is committed to building a corruption-free and oppression-free society. Emphasising embankment construction as the key local issue, he said ensuring sustainable embankments would be his top priority if elected.

Many voters said the constituency has suffered from neglect over the past 16 years, alleging that elected representatives failed to address key problems such as poor communication, lack of durable embankments and inadequate infrastructure. They said sustainable embankments and improved road connectivity would be decisive issues in the upcoming election.

A review of past election results shows that BNP’s Sheikh Razzak Ali was elected in 1979, followed by Jatiya Party and independent candidates in the 1980s. Jamaat-e-Islami and its alliance partners won the seat in several elections between 1991 and 2001, while the Awami League secured victories in 2008 and the disputed polls of 2014, 2018 and 2023.