At least 382 independent candidates are contesting for 221 seats in the upcoming 12th National Parliament Elections scheduled for January 7, 2024.
Most of them are leaders of the Awami League, and who have already been recognised as independent candidates of Awami League in the polling field.
In this election without the BNP, independent candidates of this party can become the main rivals of Awami League in hundreds of seats.
Sources said independent candidates may rise as main competitors of the AL nominees in at least 127 seats. Among them, at least 28 incumbent AL lawmakers are contesting as independent candidates on not getting party nominations. Besides, the 14-party alliance partners and the seats left to the Jatiya Party (JP) will also be contested by independent candidates.
According to primary data from the Election Commission (EC), a total of 1,896 candidates are in the fray this time.
Scrutinising the EC data, it was seen that out of 300 parliamentary seats, 225 have independent candidates. Several seats also have multiple independent candidates.
Awami League insiders said most independent aspirants are leaders of the ruling party and that they would become a headache for party ticket holders.
The remarkable thing is that the boat-deprived independent candidates got almost identical symbols, suggesting early contact between them. Symbol analysis showed that 177 independent candidates received the ‘Eagle’ and ‘Truck’ symbols.
Sources said that 54 out of 73 candidates who received truck symbols became independent aspirants after failing to get the nomination of Awami League (AL). Likewise, 68 out of 104 candidates who got Eagle became independent without getting a nomination of Awami League.
As a result, ‘Eagle’ and ‘Truck’ have become ‘rebellious symbols’ of Awami League.
Although there are 382 independent candidates in this election, the maximum number of independent candidates in the parliamentary elections is not recorded.
According to EC sources, so far, the highest number of independent candidates was in 2001 in the 8th National Parliament elections. A total of 486 independent candidates contested in that election.
Now there are 44 parties registered with the Election Commission (EC). Among them are candidates of 27 parties.
The ruling Awami League has the most candidates in 266 seats (out of which three have returned their candidature from the High Court).
After that, the main opposition party Jatiya Party (JP), has the second highest number of candidates in Parliament. According to EC data, the party has candidates in 265 seats. Awami League withdrew their candidates in 26 constituencies on the basis of compromise.
However, there are doubts about how much competition the Jatiya Party will be able to build by contesting in the election solely.
Because, in the last three elections, in the seats where the Jatiya Party contested without an agreement with the Awami League, about 86 percent of their candidates lost their security deposit.
The same is the case with the 14-party alliance partners. In the 12th election, the six seats that Awami League has given to the partners of this alliance, will have a boat symbol.
According to EC data, Trinomool BNP, which suddenly got registered with the EC, has given the third highest number of candidates in this election. The party has candidates in 133 seats.
Apart from this, National People's Party (NPP) has candidates in more than 122 seats. However, this party has no influence in the field of politics or voting.
Among the partners of the 14-party alliance led by Awami League, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) has candidates in 64 seats, Workers Party in 26 seats, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation (BTF) in 38 seats, JP in 13 seats and Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal in 4 seats.
Political analysts said that none of these parties have the capacity to create real competition with Awami League. However, the novelty of the election is the independent candidate.
In at least 127 seats, these independent candidates can become the main rivals of their party’s boat candidates. At least 28 incumbent AL MPs are among the independents. 35 people are contesting as independents from the posts of District and Upazila Parishad Chairman and Municipal Mayor.
Apart from them, former members of parliament and many others who are influential in local politics have become independent candidates.
Previously it was seen that if anyone contests against the party nominee, he/she is branded as a rebel. Along with this, there are precedents of various measures like expulsion.
However, this time, BNP, one of the largest parties in the country, has announced that it will not go to the elections, so the ruling party wants to make the elections competitive and participatory. For that reason, independents have not been labelled as ‘rebels’ and the party has also informed that no action will be taken against them.
