Pabna, Nov 21 (V7N) – BNP activists in Pabna-3 (Chatmohar–Bhangura–Faridpur) held a torch procession and street rally on Friday evening demanding the cancellation of the party’s nomination for agriculturist Hasan Zafir Tuhin and the selection of a local leader instead.

The procession began at 7 p.m. from the bus stand area of Chatmohar municipality, organized by a faction of the upazila BNP and its affiliated wings. Participants marched through the town before gathering at Zero Point, where a brief street rally concluded the event.

Former MP and ex-convener of Chatmohar Upazila BNP K.M. Anwarul Islam, along with former member secretary and former upazila chairman Hasanul Islam Hira, addressed the rally.

Hira criticized the party’s decision, stating that threats of expulsion would not intimidate longtime grassroots activists. He said he had endured 17 years of political repression and police pressure under the Awami League government and owed his political survival to the people of Chatmohar, not internal party factions.

He warned that if the BNP did not reconsider its nomination for Pabna-3, local leaders would field one of their own candidates independently in the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election. “If the party fails to value its dedicated leaders, it cannot expect to return to power,” he added.

Hira argued that the nomination of Hasan Zafir Tuhin lacked local support and that bringing in activists from across the country to campaign in Pabna-3 would only expose weakness. “This constituency can only be won by a local candidate,” he said. He urged central leaders to reassess the field situation and correct what he described as a strategic mistake.

He further noted that he and Anwarul Islam had already informed the BNP high command that Tuhin lacked sufficient public backing and could not win the seat. “If the objective is to satisfy an individual leader, then this nomination makes sense. But if the goal is to win the election, the candidate must be changed,” he said.

The rally ended with a renewed declaration that their movement would continue until the nomination for Pabna-3 is revised. Local BNP activists say they will not accept a “non-local candidate” and vow to keep mobilizing public support in the constituency.

END/MSR/SMA/