Small parties make big buzz. Polls look 'participatory'

Table: TBS

When the Zaker Party first participated in a national election in 1991, it lost all of the 251 seats it ran for.

The party did, however, get 1.22% of the vote – a little over four lakh of the around three crore total votes back then. 

In the last election, it fielded candidates in 89 seats, losing all, and securing around one lakh votes.

Undeterred, the party returns this time around, for the 12th Jatiya Sangsad polls, announcing nominees for all 300 seats, the highest it has ever aimed for.

It's also the highest number of candidates named by any party, when even the ruling Awami League came up with 298 and the Jatiya Party 287.

It's enterprising for the party formed in 1989 by Hashmatullah Faridpuri, widely known as Atroshi Pir, but they aren't the only party lacking in plucky ambition, as it seems.

Ahead of the deadline for filing nominations today, amid a hartal called by BNP, Jamaat and other parties to push home their demand for polls under a caretaker government, a number of parties have come forward with a healthy number of candidates for many seats. 

There are also three new parties – Trinamool BNP, the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement and the Bangladesh Supreme Party – in the race.  

This will be alongside many more independent candidates.

So far, 26 parties have nominated around 3,000 candidates for the 300 seats. Last year, the number was 3,065.

Despite any notable wins under their belts, the inclusion of these parties has swelled the number of participants in the coming elections, which the government and the Election Commission have both assured will be "free, fair and inclusive".

Among the 39 parties which participated in the last elections, 30 did not get a single seat. Among these 30, almost all are gearing up for upcoming polls.  

But who are these parties? Are they making a big bet? Or are they pretenders to the throne?

Despite the bruising in the 2018 election, along with losing all seats in the 37 seats it contested in the 2008 polls, the Zaker Party still harbours hope of a complete victory this time around.

"This is the first time We have nominated candidates first in 300 seats. Hopefully our candidates will win," the party's Acting General Secretary Ejazur Rasul told The Business Standard.

The party's electoral spirit is matched by the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), which, too, has opted to field the highest number of candidates compared to its previous participation in elections.

The JSD (Inu), a faction of the main party formed in 1972 – is contesting for 181 seats this time around. Although it is in the 14-party alliance led by the Awami League, it did not get any seat left by the ruling party.

It has never won a seat before when running with its own symbol and has barely managed to get more than 0.5% of the total votes.

In 2018, the party had 12 candidates, of whom two, including the party's president Hasanul Haq Inu himself, had opted to contest the polls using the AL's boat symbol.

Inu secured the Kushtia-2 seat and his peer Shirin Akhtar, also a JSD contesting using the boat symbol, was elected from Feni-1.

The remaining 10 candidates secured a total of only 1,25,494 votes.

Seven years earlier, in the 2001 election, the party had contested 76 seats, losing all and securing a paltry 0.21% of the seats.

Speaking to TBS, Inu said, "Majority of the constituencies will be contested using our own symbol. In some, we will fight with the boat like in the 2018 election." 

He also stressed that in the coming election, the number of their party's candidates will be higher than in any previous election they had participated in. 

Among the optimistic bunch, is also the Bangladesh Sanskritic Muktijote, which was formed in 2000.

In the 2018 election, it fielded two candidates, getting only 1,219 votes.

This time, the party is also hoping to vie for more than 200 seats.

Speaking to The Business Standard, party chief Abu Lays Munna, said, "Several alliances have joined us and all will participate with our party symbol (stick). We sold 250 nomination forms, so we hope we can have candidates in more than 200 seats."

Then there is also the Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, waving its garland symbol as it gears to compete for 123 seats, but the difference is, it has won before.

The party fielded 17 candidates in the 11th parliamentary election in 2018 and only one had won 2.44 lakh votes out of the total around 10 crore.

Contesting the Chattogram-2 seat then, party chief Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari secured 2.38 lakh votes with the Awami League's boat symbol.

The rest of the 16 candidates combined got 6,000 votes under the party symbol "flower garland".

The party, however, did win two seats in the 2014 JS polls, competing in an alliance led by the AL.

Organising Secretary of the party Shah Muhammad Ali Hossain told The Business Standard, "We are conducting elections in alliance. The alliance has sought 13 seats. Our party will also nominate candidates outside the alliance. If we had some time, we could field candidates for 200 seats."

On how the party was fielding such a high number of candidates, Hossain said, "We have workers all over the country, and there are committees as well."

Among the others, the Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) has nominations for 70 constituencies, up from the 57 of 2018.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Islamic Front is contesting 100 seats this time around, having sold around 300 forms.

In 2018, it was in the race for 25 seats, losing all and getting a total of 60,372 votes.

New parties, renewed appetites

Among the 26 parties who are going to elections, there are three new names.

The newly-minted parties – the Trinamool BNP, the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement and the Bangladesh Supreme Party – have never contested an election before.

Yet their intention to field 280, 250 and 121 candidates respectively means the new guards are fielding 651 candidates.

The Trinamool BNP was founded by former BNP minister Barrister Nazmul Huda in 2015. He fought a legal war with the Election Commission to finally get the party registered, passing away three days after getting the stamp of approval in February 2023.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Movement was registered in August this year with the symbol Anchor.

The party notably comprises a former Jatiya Party lawmaker, a retired Supreme Court justice, a police DIG and businessmen.

On the same day it got registration, the Bangladesh Supreme Party also secured the same.

The party was established in 2019 and says it has about 500 district and sub district offices around the country.

The party is led by Sayeed Saifuddin Ahmed Al Hasani.

For the last election, over 13,000 nomination forms were sold. Before the sales close for this time, the number has already reached over 10,000.