Awami League (AL) has picked seven new faces for constituencies in the capital mainly on grassroots recommendations backed by its President Sheikh Hasina.
Of its 15 nominees for as many Dhaka city seats, four are graft suspects or accused of patronising crime.
Party leaders fear a dismal show in some of the seats as the candidates there are not much known to the constituents. Besides, some former lawmakers including Hazi Mohammad Selim, Moqbul Hossain and HBM Iqbal, who have not been given nominations, might work against them.
"We could have chosen better candidates, had the parliamentary board been given the free rein. There's no alternative to revising some of the nominations to avert polls debacle in the city," a member of the AL Parliamentary Board told The Daily Star in return for anonymity.
Against this backdrop, the AL high-ups might bring some changes in its nominations.
Sources said organising secretaries Mahmudur Rahman Manna and Akhtaruzzaman who have not been given nominations to run from their own constituencies--Bogra-2 and Gazipur-5--might be chosen for two constituencies in the city as they are considered 'familiar face' here.
Of the AL candidates, Sanjida Khanam stands for Dhaka-4, Habibur Rahman Mollah for Dhaka-5, Mizanur Rahman Khan Dipu Dhaka-6, Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin Dhaka-7, Saber Hossain Chowdhury Dhaka-9, AKM Rahmatullah Dhaka-10, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal Dhaka-11, Barrister Fazle Noor Taposh Dhaka-12, Jahangir Kabir Nanak Dhaka-13, Aslamul Haque Aslam Dhaka-14, Kamal Ahmed Majumder Dhaka-15, Ilias Molla Dhaka-16, Dr Alauddin Ahammad Dhaka-17 and Shahara Khatun for Dhaka-18.
Of them, only Nanak and Dr Alauddin did not have grassroots recommendations.
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon is the AL-led grand alliance's candidate for Dhaka-8.
Sanjida, general secretary of Shyampur thana AL, is a new face in the parliamentary race. She has a good image among the AL leaders and workers for standing in courts for the AL chief.
Habibur Rahman Mollah was arrested by the army-led joint forces after the 1/11 changeover last year and detained for months on graft charges. On October 3 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against Mollah on charges of concealing information about wealth worth over Tk 2 crore. However, the High Court has stayed proceedings of the case.
Insiders said AL might leave the seat for Jatiya Party.
Dipu, son of businessman Nazrul Islam Khan Badal, sought nomination for Munshiganj-2 in the cancelled election of January 22 last year. For the upcoming election, he was chosen in place of former city mayor Mohammad Hanif's son Sayeed Khokon despite being a much less familiar face in Sutrapur-Kotwali.
Some AL leaders think even Menon's selection for a city seat was not a right decision. He should have been nominated for his own constituency in Barisal (Babuganj-Ujirpur).
Businessman Rahmatullah is a corruption suspect and had been on the run after the 1/11. He returned home a few months ago. The ACC filed a case against him on March 3 this year for amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income and concealing information in his assets statement to the anti-graft body.
The case has been stayed by the HC following his quashment petition on July 26.
Asaduzzaman is the president of Tejgaon thana AL and is less known among the voters. AL might concede the seat to Liberal Democratic Party if the latter joins the grand electoral alliance.
Taposh, Hasina's nephew and counsel, got the nod for Dhaka-12 constituency. Party leaders think he has a clean image among the city residents.
Nanak, chairman of Jubo League, had been in flight after January 11 last year and returned home only a month ago. He is accused in a case filed by the ACC on charges of amassing wealth through unfair means.
The HC granted him three weeks' anticipatory bail this month and asked the law enforcers to 'refrain from arresting or harassing' him during the period.
Nanak has filed a writ petition challenging the legality of the ACC case.
According to AL leaders, there are a number of allegations against Aslam including land grabbing.
Kamal Majumder was arrested by the joint forces a day after promulgation of the state of emergency. He is accused in 11 cases on different charges including land grabbing, extortion, and concealing wealth information from the ACC.
He obtained bail from the HC on August 21 this year.
Both he and Ilias Mollah have allegations against them of patronising crime in Mirpur area.
Dr Alauddin, a former lawmaker from Kishoreganj-1 and ex-vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, is not known to leaders and workers of Dhaka-17. Again, sources said, AL might pass the seat on to JP.