BD Correspondent:

Both the ruling Awami League and opposition BNP has almost finalized candidates for the upcoming national polls under the two banners---Grand Alliance and Jatiya Oikya Front respectively.

Apart from 39 registered political parties, many name-only parties have joined the two alliances to contest the 11th parliamentary elections scheduled for December 30. Insiders of the two parties say they will field the best candidate in each constituency so that he/she can win people’s hearts and come out victorious in the battle of ballots.Awami League is set to contest the national polls under the grand alliance, comprising Jatiya Party while Oikya Front will join the electoral race along with BNP and Jamaat.

The top brass of Awami League and BNP, two major political parties of the country, are now busy selecting candidates from their alliances.

Jatiya Party, a key ally of the ruling alliance, is asking for at least 60 parliamentary seats, but Awami League wants to give them less than 40 seats.

Awami League has been holding meetings with its alliance partners on sharing of seats.

Senior ruling party leaders say they will share 65 to 70 seats with the alliance partners.

JP chairman HM Ershad, Jukta Front leader and Bikalpadhara Bangladesh president AQM Badrudozza Chowdhury, Workers Party of Bangladesh president Rashed Khan Menon and JSD faction president Hasanul Huq Inu, among others, held meetings with Awami League president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and demanded a good number of seats for their parties.

In a latest development, Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Saturday held a meeting with a delegation of JP headed by its secretary general Ruhul Amin Hawlader at AL central office on Bangabandhu Avenue.

Emerging from the meeting, the Awami League spokesperson told reporters that they held an internal discussion on sharing of seats.

“The issue of seat sharing is still at the primary level. We’ll formally announce the list of candidates in a day or two,” he said.

Jatiya party appeared as the main opposition in parliament as the BNP-Jamaat alliance boycotted the last parliamentary elections held on January 5, 2014.

Asked as to whether Awami League faces any crisis in sharing of seats, Quader said in the negative.

“Everything is in our control. Which party can win more seats is our prime consideration,” he added.

While selecting candidates from 4,023 aspirants, Awami League dropped a number of its incumbent lawmakers, including party two joint general secretaries and organising secretaries.

BNP is also in a fix over sharing of seats with its alliance partners, which are seeking nominations in nearly two hundred seats.

Anti-liberation force Jamaat-e-Islami, whose registration has recently been cancelled by the Election Commission following a High Court verdict, is seeking 50 seats.

Nagarik Oikya led by Mahmudur Rahman Manna, also a top leader of the JOF, seeks 35 seats, Liberal Democratic Party led by Oli Ahmed seeks 30, Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) seeks 16 and Kalyan Party led by Syed Mohammad Ibrahim seeks 12 seats.

The Election Commission through its revised schedule has fixed December 30 for holding of the national election.

It sets November 28 as the last day for filing nomination papers. Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on December 2 while the last date for withdrawal of candidacy is December 9.