Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, the chairman of Trinamool BNP which gained familiarity as a king’s party, is running in the 12th national election from Sylhet-6 constituency (Golapganj and Beanibazar) with the symbol ‘golden fibre’.

The ruling party, Awami League (AL), also has its own candidate in the constituency. Still, a section of ruling party leaders and activists, including some elected public representatives, have been campaigning for the Trinamool BNP chairman.

A number of AL leaders were seen accompanying Shamsher Mobin during his electoral campaign at different places in Golapganj upazila on Thursday. A former leader of the Swechasebak League even addressed a street rally and urged the people to vote for Shamsher.

Nurul Islam Nahid, the current lawmaker and former education minister, is contesting in the constituency as the ruling party candidate. With the AL ticket, he won there in the elections in 1996, 2008, 2014, and 2018.

On the flip side, Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury stepped down as the vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 2015 and joined the Bikalpa Dhara in 2018 as its foreign affairs advisor. He declared candidacy for the Sylhet-6 constituency in the 2018 election but later stepped aside, extending support to Nahid.

Local sources said the ruling party is now divided into three factions in the constituency, centering on the election. A section is supporting current lawmaker Nurul Islam Nahid, another is in favour of independent candidate and founder president of Canada AL Sarwar Hossain, while the remaining one is secretly active for Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

Manjur Shafi Chowdhury, the chairman of Golapganj upazila parishad and a member of AL’s district executive committee, is also allegedly supporting Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

He told that he did not take any secret or public stance in favour of the Trinamool BNP chairman. However, the constituency is likely to see festive voting as a number of candidates are active in the field.

Some AL leaders, on the condition of anonymity, said their leaders and public representatives are facing pressure to take to the field in favour of Shamsher. Hence, some influential leaders are secretly working for him.

Also, some AL activists are participating in mass campaigns of Shamsher, distributing leaflets, and holding street rallies. At the same time, a section of the ruling party is campaigning for the independent candidate Sarwar Hossain.

Minhaj Uddin, the former assistant office secretary of AL’s Golapganj municipality unit, and Ashiqur Rahman, the former information and research secretary of the upazila unit, are publicly campaigning for Shamsher Mobin.

They said a distance developed between the current lawmaker Nurul Islam Nahid and the party men. Hence, many AL leaders and activists, like them, are supporting Shamsher Mobin in the election.

During a spot visit around 4:15 pm on Thursday, Shafiqur Rahman, alias Ripon, who identified himself as the organising secretary of Swechasebak League’s Golapganj upazila unit, was found criticising the ruling party candidate in his speech at an election rally of Shamsher Mubin at Amnia Bazar in Golapganj.

Contacted, Shafiqur Rahman said he is supporting Shamsher Mubin as they both belong to the same upazila, Golapganj. He also vented anger against the current lawmaker as he did not take care of the activists after the election. It also prompted them to campaign for Shamsher Mobin this time.

Following the street rally, the Trinamool BNP chief distributed leaflets among the people. On the spot, he claimed that people from different political parties, including AL and BNP, joined his campaign as he is a resident of the upazila. He hoped that the people, irrespective of political affiliations, would cast their votes for him.

Nasir Uddin Khan, the general secretary of AL’s Sylhet district unit, said some leaders and activists might be secretly in favour of Shamsher Mobin. However, the boat is popular in the electorate and it will win eventually.

Abdul Kaium Chowdhury, the president of BNP’s district unit, said his party did not participate in the staged election, and none of their leaders and activists are active in the campaigns. If anyone is found to do so, the party will take organisational action.

Meanwhile, Nurul Islam Nahid, the current lawmaker, claimed the entire AL family is in his favour. There might be some people who are doing something different, but he is confident of the public support and win.