Has the Jatiya Party been irrelevant in Bangladesh's politics?

Illustration: TBS

Once, the Jatiya Party had a strong dominance in Gaibandha. Local residents over sixty might still remember Gaibandha-5 (Saghatta–Phulchhari) as a stronghold of the party. But this time, the equation has changed.

Standing on Guptamoni Char of the Brahmaputra River in Phulchhari upazila, Abdul Momin said in a disappointed tone, "The party has been finished by its internal conflicts."

This time, Shamim Hayder Patwary contested the Gaibandha-5 seat for the Jatiya Party. The party's Secretary General received only 3,375 votes with the plough symbol and lost his deposit. In contrast, Abdul Warez, contesting with the scales symbol, was elected with 89,274 votes.

In Gaibandha-1, Shamim Hayder finished in third place, securing 32,754 votes. The Jatiya Party once had a strong position in Kurigram as well. But this time, it has suffered a complete collapse there too, with Jamaat winning all four seats in the district.

Speaking about the party, Nur Islam, a resident of Char Kuti–Bamandanga in Bamandanga Union of Kurigram-1, said, "The Jatiya Party is now a dead party. After becoming MPs, they focus only on their own interests. The candidates do not keep in touch with the local people. They only appear when they need votes. That's why there has been a huge change in Kurigram this time."

In the eight districts of Rangpur Division, the Jatiya Party contested 30 seats this time, but did not win a single one. Even though they competed in 200 constituencies across the country, they failed to secure any seats.

Many voters feel that over the past 16 years, the Jatiya Party has been on a path to extinction, essentially absorbed within the ranks of the Awami League.

During the last 16 years, three elections were held. Out of six seats in Rangpur, the Awami League won three. However, in this election, the Awami League did not contest. The Jatiya Party was unable to stand against Jamaat–BNP on the ground.

In this election, Jamaat-e-Islami won five out of six seats in Rangpur, which has long been considered a stronghold of the Jatiya Party. The remaining seat went to their ally, the Jatiya Nagarik Party (JNP). As a result, Rangpur, historically a strong bastion of the Jatiya Party, has now been left seatless.

Rangpur-3 covers Sadar Upazila and the city corporation area. Mahbubur Rahman Belal, a central executive council member of Jamaat-e-Islami and former Amir of Rangpur city, was elected on the scales symbol with 178,064 votes.

The BNP candidate, Samsuzzaman Samu, received 85,498 votes. In the same constituency, Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader, contesting on the plough symbol, secured 43,790 votes.

On polling day last Thursday, GM Quader was nowhere to be seen. He himself did not leave his Sky View residence in Senpara, Rangpur. Even when media personnel gathered outside his home several times, he did not appear before them.

Emran Hossain, a resident of Rangpur Sadar for many years and an employee of a private company, said, "The Jatiya Party is much weaker compared to the past. The death of the party's founder, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, internal conflicts, MPs neglecting their constituencies, lagging behind in development, and blind support for the previous government—all these factors influenced the vote this time. On the electoral field, the Jatiya Party showed a very different performance."

Before the election, many voters had expected the Jatiya Party to win Nilphamari-4 (Syedpur–Kishoreganj) by a wide margin. Yet even there, the outcome was disappointing. Runa Pramanik, a voter in that constituency, said, "The Jatiya Party has lost touch with the people, which caused their votes to drop."

However, the Jatiya Party points to past statistics to argue that from 1991 to 2008, it won 92% of seats in the Rangpur region during general elections, often by a wide margin. This time, however, they have suffered a devastating defeat.

Jatiya Party and electoral statistics

Bangladesh's former President Hussain Muhammad Ershad founded the Jatiya Party on 1 January 1986 while in power. Transitioning from army chief to ruler, he governed the country for nearly nine years. Following the fall of his government amid popular uprisings, the party won 35 seats in the 1991 elections held under a neutral government, securing around 12% of the vote.

The Jatiya Party is now a dead party. After becoming MPs, they focus only on their own interests. The candidates do not keep in touch with the local people. They only appear when they need votes. That's why there has been a huge change in Kurigram this time.

Nur Islam, Kurigram resident

In the 1996 elections, the Jatiya Party won 32 seats and around 16% of the vote, supporting the Bangladesh Awami League to form the government. In 2001, its tally fell to 14 seats, with vote share dropping to 7%.

In 2008, as part of the grand alliance led by the Awami League, the party won 28 seats. In the 2014 elections, when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not participate, the Jatiya Party secured 34 seats, becoming the main opposition.

In 2018, the party won 22 seats, and in 2024, its tally fell to 11 seats, with vote share declining to around 3%. This time, on the electoral field, the party has faced an even greater disaster.

The breaking of Jatiya Party 

The Jatiya Party has repeatedly fractured due to internal conflicts. Ahead of the 13th national parliamentary elections, the party faced another split. Under the leadership of Anisul Islam Mahmud, a new faction of the Jatiya Party was formed with heavyweight leaders. Even while its founder, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, was alive, the party had been divided several times, though the faction led by Ershad remained the main party.

After Ershad's death in 2009, divisions over party leadership became evident between Rowshan Ershad and GM Quader. In the 2024 elections, with the Awami League giving prominence to GM Quader as the main leader, the Rowshan faction weakened significantly.

Currently, Shamim Hayder Patwary serves as Secretary General of the faction led by GM Quader. Former Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga and former MP Nur Mohammad Mondal were brought back to the party in an attempt to resolve the crisis, but the split could not be prevented.

Earlier, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury and Anwar Hossain Monju broke away from the Jatiya Party to form Jatiya Party (JP). Additionally, Nazuyaur Rahman Monju founded the Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), whose current leader, Andalib Rahman Partho, won the latest election as a candidate of the BNP-led alliance.

What the Jatiya Party says

The internal splits have had a significant impact on the Jatiya Party's politics and performance at the polls, according to the party's Secretary General, Shamim Hayder Patwary. Speaking to The Business Standard about the "disaster" in this year's election, he said, "Our candidates were popular in many constituencies and their victories as MPs were almost certain. But these were lost through election engineering. It wasn't just engineering — the Jatiya Party's votes were deliberately undercounted, shown as low, and we were pushed into third place. This was designed so that the Jatiya Party could not enter either house of Parliament. We were caught in that design."

He added that Jamaat secured around 100,000 to 150,000 votes in some areas, and the government had planned to keep the Jatiya Party out of Parliament — a plan that succeeded. However, he stressed that the party is not disheartened. "Going forward, the Jatiya Party will become better organised. One success we achieved is that our symbol appeared on the ballot. Our candidates were present in the field, which itself is an achievement, because there were threats that the Jatiya Party would not be allowed to vote or have its symbol on the ballot. But we were there — this is also a victory for the party."

Asked whether internal conflicts or ties with the Awami League had influenced the results, he said: "The splits and being allied with a political party did have an effect, but it is not the main reason. Historically, we have always come first in our constituencies. This time, the situation was different, which should not have happened. Our voters have been with us for a long time. The number of votes this time was far below our core voter base. Another concerning issue was that ten days before the election, there was no media coverage of us — part of the engineering."

On the question of what the Jatiya Party will do next, Shamim Patwary said: "We will call all our candidates to Dhaka and decide on the next course of action. We are in the field, and we will remain there."