Jatiya Party Secretary General Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu yesterday denied that there was any rift in the party, and said the discussion between the prime minister and four JP leaders over JP's internal affairs was nothing unusual. “The prime minister [Sheikh Hasina] is the leader of parliament. Therefore, she is also leader of the opposition party. That is why we must talk to the premier,” Bablu said a
t a press conference at the JP chief's office in the capital. When a reporter asked him whether Hasina was holding sway over the JP, Bablu said the question was absurd. His statement came a day after JP leaders Moshiur Rahman Ranga and Tajul Islam Chowdhury along with Kazi Feroz Rashid and Ruhul Amin Hawlader talked to the premier at parliament about the JP chief's decision to remove the duo from JP presidium. Ranga, also state minister for LGRD and Cooperatives, and Tajul, chief whip of the opposition, sought the premier's interference in the matter, according to JP insiders. Bablu, however, claimed that the JP leaders didn't seek the premier's intervention in JP's internal matters. Meanwhile, Ranga and Tajul nearly got into a scuffle with Bablu at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban lobby last night. During a break at yesterday's parliament sitting, Ranga and Tajul got involved in a heated debate with Bablu over the JP chief's decision to remove the duo from the party presidium. Ranga and Tajul blamed Bablu for influencing JP Chief HM Ershad to take action against them, several lawmakers present there told The Daily Star. Bablu told the duo that he didn't know anything about the matter, and it was the party chief who made all decisions. Tajul then joined the debate, and criticised the JP secretary general for the way he was running the party. Tajul asked Bablu why he had spoken at the press conference without informing them. JP leader and Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, who was present there, sided with Bablu, according to the lawmakers. Ranga and Tajul later went to the prime minister's office in parliament and informed her about the matter. On HM Ershad's decision to remove Ranga and Tajul from the JP presidium, Bablu earlier told reporters that the JP constitution empowered the party chief to take any action against any party leader for violating the charter. “The two leaders [Ranga and Tajul] spoke against the party chief,” Bablu said. He claimed there was no division in the party over the appointment of deputy leader of the opposition in parliament. Asked about Tajul's comment on Wednesday that Ershad was destroying the party by making unilateral decisions, Bablu said Tajul is a controversial leader. Tajul told reporters at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban yesterday that JP lawmakers elected him as opposition chief whip and Raushan Ershad as the leader of the opposition. “Raushan Ershad is our leader in parliament. All party lawmakers are united under her leadership,” he said. JP insiders told The Daily Star that Ranga on Wednesday night called on JP presidium member Mahmud, known to be a close aide to Ershad, at his Gulshan residence. Ranga requested Mahmud to convey to Ershad that he was loyal to the party chief. The rift between Ershad and his wife Raushan reached its peak over some issues, including the appointment of deputy leader of the opposition in parliament. Raushan wants to see Feroz as deputy leader of the opposition while Ershad wants Bablu to have the post. The JP chief last month suspended Feroz from the party's South Dhaka city unit. Advertisement
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