Why would the central committee be needed to expel a supporter? Jahangir Alam 

Former Gazipur City Corporation mayor Mohammad Jahangir Alam on Tuesday wondered why the Awami League central committee would be required to expel him when he did not hold a position or a membership in the party.

"I do not hold any post in the Awami League, nor am I a member of the party. I am only a supporter. The prime minister revoked my expulsion order, for which I am grateful. But I came to know through Facebook and different reports that I was expelled again. I am only a supporter. Why do you need a central committee to expel a supporter?" Jahangir asked.

Speaking at a press conference at his home in Gazipur on Tuesday, he said, "How can they do this to a supporter? I am pleading to allow me to stay in the party as a supporter."

"I was the mayor of that place where 40 lakh people reside. For 18 months I went door to door. I wanted to talk to either the general secretary of the Awami League or the prime minister who is also the party chief. But none had two minutes to listen to me. No one did it. There was no path open for me to reach them," he said. 

Jahangir further said that leadership is if workers are in peril, then those who are in leadership, there are local leaders, central leaders, or national leaders, they discuss. Discuss how to solve it, solve that thing. 

He said, "I will draw attention to the central leaders, tell the truth to the party president, let her know the truth, her leaders and workers are being harassed here, injustice is being done." 

The ruling Awami League on Monday expelled Jahangir Alam, former general secretary of its Gazipur city unit.

At a meeting held on 14 May, the Awami League secretariat recommended Jahangir's permanent expulsion from the party after he submitted nomination papers for the Gazipur City Corporations polls defying the party's decision.

Members of the secretarial board there said Jahangir Alam is indulging in breaking the party discipline even after receiving the party's pardon. He is working in the field for his mother and took a stand against the party candidate.

Jahangir Alam, who was elected mayor of the Gazipur City Corporation from the Awami League in 2018, was suspended from the post of mayor in November 2021 on charges of various irregularities. He was also expelled from the Awami League for breaching party discipline.

Later, he was granted general mercy and reinstated to the party in January this year.

The Election Commission, on 30 April, rejected Jahangir's nomination papers for this year's Gazipur city mayoral polls on allegations of loan default. However, his mother Zayeda Khatun is contesting the polls as an independent candidate to race with Awami League-nominated Azmat Ullah Khan.