From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics
Once decorated with posters of Awami League leaders, especially during festivals like Eid, the walls and electric poles now tell a very different story
If there's a heartbeat to the town of Bagerhat, it pulses along the stretch from Rail Road to Sadhanar Mor.
Once decorated with posters of Awami League leaders, especially during festivals like Eid, the walls and electric poles now tell a very different story.
Two faces dominate the landscape today: M A H Salim, the BNP-backed MP for Bagerhat-2 from 2001 to 2006, and M A Salam, the former district president and current coordinator of Bagerhat BNP, who also contested the 2018 election in Bagerhat-2.
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Their images are everywhere—not just along the main roads, but deep into the town's narrow alleys.
Most of the posters, put up by grassroots BNP leaders, feature either of them alongside the party's iconic trio: Ex president Ziaur Rahman, Begum Khaleda Zia, and Tarique Rahman.
Interestingly, Salim and Salam are brothers, and they may find themselves competing against each other for the party's nomination in the upcoming national election.
Meanwhile, around Alia Madrasah Road and around PC College, some posters also feature younger, lesser-known faces.
Locals say these emerging leaders began to gain visibility after their involvement in the July uprising last year. Some have already aligned themselves with the newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP).
Notably missing, however, are posters of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.
Locals say neither the NCP nor Jamaat holds much ground here. Only the BNP seems to resonate with non-political people of the city.
"If there's an election right now, the BNP would win by a mile," said Hamidul Islam, a local resident of Bagerhat.
"Honestly, the election might just be a formality—whether it's held this December or next April, and whether Salim or Salam gets the BNP ticket. It already feels like the BNP is in charge here," he added.
Yet, just a year ago, such a claim would have seemed absurd.
Take last year's Eid-ul-Adha, for example.
As in previous years, Bagerhat's walls were covered with images of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina, and one more familiar face.
That was of Sheikh Sharhan Naser Tonmoy, more commonly known as Sheikh Tonmoy.
Interestingly, Tonmoy wasn't even in politics when the Awami League began its 16-year stretch in power back in 2009.
He entered the scene suddenly in 2018, securing the Bagerhat-2 nomination—not through grassroots work or party leadership, but through family ties.
The son of Sheikh Helal, Tonmoy belongs to the Sheikh family, which long dominated the region. He was elected MP twice, though the second term ended abruptly on 5 August last year.
This sudden rise of Tonmoy symbolised what many began calling the "Sheikh Dynasty"—a power structure that extended deep into the south-western belt of the country.
This dynasty was built by five brothers: Sheikh Helal, Sheikh Jewel, Sheikh Sohel, Sheikh Rubel, and Sheikh Belal—sons of Sheikh Abu Naser, the younger brother of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was also killed on 15 August 1975.
Among the brothers, Sheikh Helal and Sheikh Jewel were MPs. But none of them held key positions in the Awami League's central leadership. Still, no one from this region could climb the party ranks without this family's nod.
In Khulna, Bagerhat, Jashore, Satkhira, or Jhenaidah—any nomination-seeker had to visit their doorstep. Ministers didn't dare bypass their influence. Their power was especially felt in ministries like water resources and shipping.
Over the 16 years of Hasina's regime, local jobs, tenders, transfers—even university admissions—were said to be under the grip of the Sheikh household.
Locals had a name for it—the "Sheikh Bari Quota".
This Sheikh Bari was actually a two-storey building with red boundary walls on Sher-e-Bangla Road in Khulna.
Though the brothers lived in Dhaka, they often stayed here while in town.
During those visits, the house would buzz with the presence of the most influential figures from the region. In many ways, this was the command centre from which Bangladesh's south-west was run.
But today, that house is burned and broken.
On 4 and 5 August last year, following Sheikh Hasina's fall from power, the building was attacked, looted, and set on fire.
Again it was vandalised by bulldozers and set on fire on 5 February night this year.
Now all that remains is the charred shell of what was once a feared centre of power.
Thus, the ruins of Sheikh Bari stand as a monument to the sunset of a political dynasty.
Back in Bagerhat town, the shift is just as stark.
Not a single poster of Sheikh Tonmoy can be found. Once the face of unchallenged authority, he has vanished from both the streets and the public eye.
Reportedly, he, his father, and uncles have fled the country to escape the wrath of a region they once ruled.
And now, like many parts of the country, Bagerhat too is feeling the winds of change long before any formal election takes place.
From the look of things, it's already clear which way the local politics is heading—at least for the next five years following the election, if not more.
Still, what may prove really interesting is how the party poised to win will navigate its internal conflicts, sometimes even among siblings.
