List of 13 for Chhatra Dal top leadership on prime minister's table, no one knows when announcement will come

A list of 13 leaders has been given to BNP chairman and prime minister Tarique Rahman to finalise the top leadership of Chhatra Dal, according to several related sources.

Inquiries have also been made about the prospective leaders' political activities, family identities and lifestyles. Discussion suggests that the central president, general secretary and the top five may be chosen from among them.

Six leaders who follow the process of forming the new Chhatra Dal committee and are involved in it were spoken to. None of them could say for certain when the new committee will be announced. The summary of their statements is almost the same — no one except the prime minister knows when the committee will be announced.

In the meantime, new convening committees of Dhaka Metropolitan North and South BNP have been formed. New leadership has also come to Dhaka Metropolitan North Jubo Dal. Activity is also under way to reorganise the central committees of Jubo Dal and Swechchhasebak Dal. But no announcement has yet come about the new leadership of Chhatra Dal, an important associate organisation of BNP. As a result, the wait of post-aspirants in the new committee is getting longer.

The current central committee of Chhatra Dal, with Rakibul Islam as president and Nasir Uddin as general secretary, was announced on 1 March 2024. On the night of 13 August, they paid a farewell visit to Tarique Rahman at the BNP chairman's political office in Gulshan. Three other top leaders of the central committee were also with them.

After the meeting, president Rakibul Islam posted on Facebook that night hinting at farewell. There he wrote, 'The best chapter of life is coming to an end.' The next morning, 14 August, general secretary Nasir Uddin wrote on Facebook, 'Today is the last day of performing duty as general secretary of Chhatra Dal.'

After these two posts, an expectation of a quick announcement of the new committee was created among the organisation's leaders and activists. But that announcement did not come. As a result, the leaders who had prepared to bid farewell have had to continue organisational activities.

A top leader of the current central committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, 'I have come after bidding farewell. I have also given a status on Facebook. But the new committee is not happening. What a humiliating situation I am in! No one is even listening!'

Several sources at the prime minister's office said the biographies of prospective presidential and general secretary aspirants have been submitted to the prime minister. According to another source, detailed inquiries were made through an intelligence agency about the 13 leaders for selecting the top leadership. A report verifying their past activities, families' political identities, current lifestyles and various other matters has been submitted to the prime minister's office. However, details about who those 13 are were not known.

However, a related source said there are two opinions on the criteria for selecting leadership. An important part of policymaking is in favour of forming the committee with regular students. Their argument is that regular students are coming to the leadership of other student organisations, and that needs to be given importance in Chhatra Dal too. Another part at the policymaking level is in favour of keeping comparatively senior and experienced leaders in the central leadership. The failure to finalise a decision between these two positions is one of the reasons the committee is stuck. However, no official statement was received on this matter.

A leader under discussion as a prospective for a top post, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, 'I am in the dark about the new committee.' He said a clear idea about when the committee will be formed is not available from those who used to be involved in the committee formation process before. Everyone is saying the prime minister knows the matter well.

Alongside the delay in announcing the committee, the possibility that the central committees of Jubo Dal and Swechchhasebak Dal will be formed first is also worrying a section of Chhatra Dal post-aspirants. Related leaders say that in the past, after the new Chhatra Dal committee was formed, some of the leaders who were dropped were given responsibilities in Jubo Dal or Swechchhasebak Dal. This gave them an opportunity to join another organisation after student politics. If the committees of those two organisations are formed first this time, uncertainty may arise about where leaders who do not get a place in Chhatra Dal leadership will be accommodated.

One post-aspirant leader said there is a regular cost to maintain contact with followers and organisational activity. The pressure is also increasing in the long wait. He also expressed concern about how he will handle followers if he ultimately does not get a place in the committee.

Beyond running organisational activities in educational institutions, Chhatra Dal has an important role in working on students' demands and creating the party's future leadership. Several Chhatra Dal leaders said that if the wait for central leadership gets long, there is a fear that aspirants' activity will become committee-centric instead of regular contact with students and organisational work.

A top leader of the current committee, highlighting the need for a quick decision, said followers of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina are trying to create instability by exploding cocktails on various campuses. In such a situation, the uncertainty over leadership needs to be removed so that Chhatra Dal leaders and activists can work with clear direction and in coordination.

Even though the new committee has not been announced, a day-long workshop with Chhatra Dal leaders has been organised at the BNP office in Gulshan tomorrow, Saturday, a top leader of the current central committee said. Several top leaders of the central committee, presidents and general secretaries of all public university branches, and presidents and general secretaries of 10 metropolitan branches are scheduled to take part in the workshop. They will be informed about the promises BNP made before coming to power and their implementation. Later they will present this information at their respective campuses and units. Trainers will conduct various sessions at the workshop. Members of the cabinet are also scheduled to speak. The leaders have been informed that prime minister Tarique Rahman may attend in the afternoon and give a directional speech.

Official statements were sought from several related leaders about the formation of the Chhatra Dal committee. However, none agreed to give an official statement.