The 12th parliamentary polls will be the fourth election to the Brahmanbaria-2 seat in five years. Voter apathy was clear in the last two by-elections, but the upcoming general election has garnered interest among voters.

Al Mamun, a villager, said voters lacked interest in the elections in the past five years. “We shouldn’t consider those elections [for analysis]. But this time, the voters appear to be interested in the polls.”

Jalal Uddin, a businessman, said it was still unclear what the voters were thinking about the general election. “But they are showing more enthusiasm than before.”

Consisting of Sarail and Ashuganj, the seat was won by Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan five times, including the last general election in 2018.

The constituency was up for grabs in a by-election after Sattar and five other BNP MPs resigned as part of the party’s movement to topple the Awami League government and hold a general election with a caretaker administration in power.

Sattar later quit the party, and in a turn of events, decided to run for re-election and won again.

After his death in September, Awami League candidate Shahjahan Alam Saju won the seat in a by-election, but could not join a parliament session due to the proximity to the general election.

Saju won the ruling party’s ticket in the Jan 7 vote, but stepped aside for the Jatiya Party’s Md Rezaul Islam Bhuiyan, an additional secretary general of the opposition party, following the Awami League’s decision to share 26 seats with the Jatiya Party.

Despite being an outsider, Rezaul secured the Jatiya Party’s nomination as a follower of Chairman GM Quader.

His rival Moin Uddin, a former joint general secretary of Brahmanbaria District Awami League, is hoping for victory as an independent candidate with the silent support of local Awami League leaders.

Rezaul’s father-in-law Ziaul Haque Mridha, a former Jatiya Party MP and follower of GM Quader’s rival Raushon Ershad, has also joined the race as an independent, adding to Moin’s hope for a victory.

Habibur Rahman, a voter, thinks Moin will get all the votes from Awami League supporters. “Everyone will vote for Moin Bhai as party chief Sheikh Hasina said anyone can contest as an independent candidate.”

Moin said he narrowly lost the last election and joined the race again because he has faith in the Election Commission. “The people of Sarail and Ashuganj will pick me if the election is free and fair.”

Rezaul said Moin and others are heavyweight candidates. “But I will snatch away victory from them.”

Ziaul said he is also hopeful about victory.

The Brahmanbaria-2 seat has over 410,000 voters – around 217,400 male, over 192,600 female, and one from the third-gender community.

The BNP left the seat for its ally Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini of the Islami Oikya Jote in 2001. He won by a huge margin at that time.

His son Maulana Abul Hasnat Amini is contesting the polls this time, but failed to draw much support as a large number of BNP supporters have stayed away from the campaign.

People in the constituency believe the BNP supporters’ backing will become a factor in the vote, although party leaders have called for a boycott.

The late MP Sattar’s son Mainul Hasan Tushar is contesting the polls as a candidate of the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement, but he is not part of discussions in the political arena yet.

A senior citizen said BNP supporters may not pick the Jatiya Party candidate because they believe it will benefit the Awami League.

In that case, independent candidates Moin or Ziaul may get their votes.

“They [BNP supporters] will vote for Moin if they think he has a chance to win. Otherwise, Ziaul will get the votes,” the senior citizen said.