Dhaka: Despite being the main opposition in Parliament, Jatiya Party has suffered a drubbing in the first phase of Union Council (UC) elections and also in other recent polls, including the municipal and city ones.

Out of 631 UCs, the HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party has been able to bag only four chairman posts with its election symbol ‘plough’, according to the latest election results of 631 Union Councils.

The four UCs are Krishnanagar of Satkhira, Angaria and Mudadia of Patuakhali and Gachhua of Barisal.

Jatiya party co-chairman GM Quader attributed their party’s election debacle to vote rigging, use of muscle power in the polls alongside the party’s dual role as opposition and the government.

However, local government experts Dr Tofail Ahmed thinks Jatiya Party’s organisational weakness, particularly at the grassroots level, elation irregularities and party’s confusing political stance are the main reasons behind its poor show in the recent polls.

In the first phase of the UC election, Jatiya Party even could not field its candidates in most UCs as there were some 120 chairman candidates of the party in the polls.

Though a small party, the Anwar Hossain Manju-led Jatiya Party chairman candidates also won in four UPs with its election symbol bicycle.

The Ershad-led Jatiya party also demonstrated very poor show in consideration of the total percentage of the vote cast. It shared only 0.62 percent of the total votes cast in the elections while the ruling AL 36.48 percent and BNP’ 11.50 percent.

In the countrywide municipal polls held on December 30 last year, the Jatiya Party also fared very badly as it had been able to grab only one mayoral post out 234 one. The Jatiya Party mayoral candidate won the polls in Nageshwari municipality of Kurigram.

In the elections to two Dhaka city corporations held on April 28 last year, two Jatiya Party-backed mayoral candidates polled less than 0.50 percent of the votes cast in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).

Jatiya Party-blessed Bahauddin Ahmed received only 2,950 votes, which was 0.33 percent of t he total votes cast in the DNCC while the party-backed Saifuddin Ahmed Milon bagged 4519 votes which was 0.49 percent of the total vote cast in the DSCC.

Asked about the reasons behind so poor performance of the party in the recent polls, Dr Tofail Ahmed said Jatiya Party has not strong organisational strength. ‘It could not establish the party at grassroots levels. It has only some leaders and supporters, but not organisations, at the grassroots.’

He also said people have no clear idea about Jatiya Party politics for its twin role as the opposition and the government’s part.  

The other reason he said the election were not credible one as those were marred by vote rigging and capturing of voting centres.

GM Quader also said their party did very badly as the elections were not fair and their candidates and voters were helpless due to muscle flexing by the ruling party men.

‘No party is doing well, except Awami League, in the elections. The polls were not free and fair. The supporters of ruling party candidates and ruling rebels established their control over the election areas, capturing polling stations,’ he said.

Quader said voters belong to opposition parties could not go to voting centres in the most UPs. ‘So, you can’t judge the performance of any party through the polls as those did not reflect public opinions.’

Echoing Dr Tofail he said their party’s dual role as opposition and also part of the government’s is a big reason why they suffered the debacle because there was confusion about voters about Jatiya Party’s role.  

Quader, however, does not think that the party’s organisational weakness has been behind the drubbing.