War of words in Dhaka-8

The verbal battle between Dhaka-8 rivals Mirza Abbas and Nasir Uddin Patwari has reached fever pitch.

Voters are relishing the spectacle, and beyond offline exchanges, their rhetoric and counter-rhetoric online has generated nationwide interest in the constituency.

The key question remains: how much impact will this war of words have on the electoral battlefield?

Mirza Abbas has long contested elections from the constituency as a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate. He previously served as a minister and also mayor of undivided Dhaka. Well known locally, he remains a familiar figure among voters.

On the other hand, following the student-mass uprising, a new party, the National Citizens Party (NCP), was formed. In alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, the party’s chief coordinator Nasir Uddin Patwari has become a candidate from this seat.

Since the campaign began, the two rivals have repeatedly targeted each other in public remarks.

Patwari has levelled various allegations of irregularities against Abbas, while the BNP candidate has responded to some of the claims.
Journalists have also questioned both candidates daily about the exchanges, pushing the issue to trend across social media platforms such as

Facebook and YouTube. Some supporters have even created online games featuring the two candidates.

Discussions and criticism surrounding the pair continue across the constituency. Speaking with several voters, it was learned that Abbas remains more familiar, while Patwari has quickly gained recognition through his rhetoric, viewed positively by some and negatively by others.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed, naib amir of Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dhaka Metropolitan South, was initially expected to contest from the seat. He campaigned for several days but later extended support to Patwari under the alliance agreement. As a result, Jamaat leaders and activists are also campaigning alongside the NCP.

However, visits to several wards showed that Abbas’s supporters are conducting a more organised campaign. Temporary camps have been set up in different areas to prepare voter slips for polling centres, with teams delivering them to households.

In the Motijheel area, Sahadat Hossain, joint general secretary of a BNP unit, told the Daily Sun that Abbas would win due to his long-standing acceptability and familiarity as a local candidate.

Dhaka-8 comprises wards no. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 20 and 21 of Dhaka South City Corporation, in Motijheel, Paltan, Shahbag, Shahjahanpur and Ramna police stations. The constituency has 275,471 voters. Other candidates contesting the seat include A H M Rafiquzzaman Akanda of BASAD-Marxist, A F M Ismail Chowdhury of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD), S M Sarowar of Bangladesh Islami Front, Kefayet Ullah of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Tridip Kumar Saha of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Meghna Alam of Gono Odhikar Parishad (GOP), Md Golam Sarowar of Janatar Dal, Md Juber Alam Khan of Jatiya Party, and Md Russel Kabir of Bangladesh Sangskritik Muktijote.

Several senior voters said Abbas has been a familiar political figure in the area for decades. The current Dhaka-8 constituency was previously Dhaka-6. He won elections in 1991 and February 1996, though he lost in June of the same year. He was elected again in 2001 and served as a minister.

However, after boundary changes in 2008, Abbas failed to win the Dhaka-8 seat, and several past elections were controversial. Although many are discussing a competitive race this time, BNP candidate Mirza Abbas is still being considered ahead in the contest.

Inqilab Mancha leader Shahid Sharif Osman bin Hadi had earlier expressed interest in running for the seat, and following his death, voter interest in him remains. Patwari has prioritised the trial over Hadi’s killing in his manifesto, though there are mixed views on how much influence this issue will have on the election outcome.

The reporter can be reached at: [email protected]