Arif doing the election?

According to the schedule of the Election Commission, five city corporation elections will be held before the national elections. Among these five cities, Sylhet's BNP candidate Ariful Haque Chowdhury has entered the field to participate in this election, sources said. The source says that in the last two elections of Sylhet, BNP nominated candidate and current mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury. He has already arrived in London with Nazrana to meet Tariq Rahman. He is trying to convince Tarek to participate in the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) elections as BNP's nominee.

So Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury went on a visit to London this week. He stayed in London to participate in the election and tried to melt the mind of the acting chairman of the party, Tariq Rahman. But sources also said that there was no resolution to his financial negotiations with Tarek.

However, the source says that even if he has not resolved with Tarek, this time he will contest for the post of mayor in Sylhet City Corporation elections. Several close associates of Ariful Haque Choudhary have confirmed his participation in the city elections. The reasons behind his contesting in the Sylhet City Corporation elections are:-

First, his own vote bank and his own army will be wasted if he does not stand for election. That is why he went on a visit to UK last Sunday. He is scheduled to return home after a week and a half. However, Ariful said about participating in the election, he will give his opinion considering the time and situation.

Besides, Ariful is widely popular in Sylhet city as a development-friendly mayor. So many voters of the city want Ariful to contest as an independent candidate even if BNP does not come to the polls. If the election is fair, his chances of winning are high. Ariful will be an independent candidate, as there is such a campaign within the party, there is also outside the party. All in all, he seems to be the candidate.

Secondly, Awami League candidates are relatively weak there and there is internal turmoil within Awami League. That's why Ariful Haque has a high chance of winning if he stands as mayor. The Election Commission has announced the decision to hold elections in Sylhet City Corporation on June 21. In the meantime, eight Awami League and two Jatiya Party leaders have entered the field to compete for the post of mayor. They said that they will elect if they get party nomination. Banners, posters and billboards have been hung in support of them on various important roads of the city. As a result, if the votes of Awami League and Jatiya Party are divided, Ariful can easily win the election there. Moreover, there are eight candidates from the ruling Awami League, where due to internal party conflict, it is assumed that a rebel part of the Awami League will work for Ariful during the election.

Thirdly, the political polarization that exists in Sylhet, if Ariful is not there as mayor, his party and himself will suffer. They will have no place there. Ariful Haque Chowdhury, who is known to be close to BNP's former finance minister M Saifur Rahman, was once a Chhatra Dal leader. Later he served as the President of Metropolitan BNP, General Secretary of District BNP, Councilor of City Corporation. He was elected mayor for the last two consecutive terms on the nomination of BNP. Currently he is a member of BNP Central Committee and Sylhet District Committee.

Besides, several leaders are active here to get party nomination for the post of Mayor. However, considering the popularity and acceptability of Ariful Haque Chowdhury, there is not much alternative leader in BNP, but there is discussion among people of different classes and professions in the city. Even though Ariful has no choice but to contest for the mayoral post, his position as an opposition force in the party is very mature. It is common in the political field that Ariful has a 'cold fight' with Khandkar Abdul Muktadir, advisor to the BNP Chairperson and who contested the previous parliamentary elections from the Sylhet-1 (Nagar and Sadar) constituency. Therefore, even if BNP comes to the election, the leaders of the opposition circle will naturally be active about Ariful not being nominated. That is why if Ariful is not there as Mir, his party and Tikni himself will fall back from the political field.

It is for these three reasons that Ariful will be elected mayor and if he is finally banned from running, he is expected to run the risk of expulsion. Because, to sustain his existence, he has to make this election.

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