The word Ivy-Shamim Osman is also closely associated with the word Narayanganj. Even if their party is one, if one is right, the other is left! In the battle of words, one did not hesitate to address the other person rudely. Even the central leaders of the Awami League tried to resolve the dispute but could not find any solution. And the upcoming election is really like ‘pouring ghee’ on that dispute!
The 'conflict' between Selina Hayat Ivy and Shamim Osman's family is very old. However, in the 2011 city elections, it 'burned like purple in oil'. Dr. Selina Hayat Ivy won the election as an independent candidate. She defeated her nearest rival Shamim Osman by a margin of 1 lakh 1 thousand 343 votes.
Then in the 2016 city corporation election, the Awami League relied on Ivy. And the people also put their trust in her for the second time. She was elected mayor by a huge vote. Ivy has twice been elected mayor of the city corporation. Following this, the Awami League has put its trust in Ivy by offering ‘boat’ again.
District Awami League general secretary Abu Hasnat, co-president of the metropolitan Awami League Chandan Shil and general secretary Khokon Shah, who are followers of the Osman family, sought nomination in this election but party president Sheikh Hasina handed over the ‘boat’ symbol relying on Ivy. Since then a new war of words has started.
Ivy's main rival in the election is Taimur Alam Khondaker, a former adviser to the BNP chairperson. However, the main rival was Taimur Alam Khandaker but all eyes were on Narayanganj-4 MP Shamim Osman. On the other hand, Shamim Osman was in a silent role from the beginning.
Selina Hayat Ivy made explosive remarks about Shamim Osman just when the discussion was at its peak.
Shamim Osman, a prominent political figure of Narayanganj, finally broke the silence as he was called 'Godfather' in the election campaign.
Ivy didn't stop at just saying 'Godfather'. She claimed that independent mayoral candidate Taimur Alam Khondaker was Shamim Osman's candidate. As a result, Shamim Osman came to a press conference to clear his position in Narayanganj city election. In addition to announcing his position at the press conference, he did not stop talking to Ivy. Although Shamim Osman announced to stay on the field for Awami League, the situation is still murky.
Shamim Osman spoke for 55 minutes at the press conference. "It simply came to our notice then. Narayanganj is boat base, no one else's game will be played here. From today I got on the boat campaign.”
He also took the name of the boat in the whole press conference, but did not take the boat candidate once. Selina Hayat is the name of Ivy. Rather, he said, ‘Who is the candidate here, who cares. It is not up to us to decide whether it is a banana tree or a mango tree.’
On the other hand, in the election campaign, Ivy commented on Tuesday, "It is not Shamim Osman but the people of Narayanganj who are my hope". Pointing to Shamim Osman's support, she said, "The tide of my boat has already risen. In this city Nabiganj, Bandar, Kadam Rasul, Sonakanda, Siddhirganj, across the river, Narayanganj boat tide has already risen. And this shows how far the water of conflict has flowed.
In the context of which many people think that the conflict was not resolved through this press conference, but new ‘kerosene was poured into the fire.’
Jahangir Alam, senior joint general secretary of Narayanganj district Awami League, told Barta24, "We came to Awami League politics through Chhatra League." I have obeyed the orders of the party. But the dissolved BCL committee of Narayanganj has gone against the boat. They have been working for more different candidates without campaigning, which is frustrating. For this they have been declared void. This leader said that it has been good for the party.
Many people think that Shamim Osman was forced to hold such a press conference under a lot of pressure. The party symbol announced to go down in favor of the boat candidate. Because, in Narayanganj, Shamim Osman and his followers are not in favor of the party's mayoral candidate; instead, some have been working for Ivy's rival independent candidate Taimur Alam Khondaker, it has been revealed in various ways.
It remains to be seen whether Selina Hayat Ivy or Taimur Alam Khondaker will win the Narayanganj city seat in the midst of such a game of words and conflict. The eyes of the entire country, including Narayanganj, will be on the results of the January 16 election.