There is curiosity among the common people in two areas regarding the Sangh Parishad elections. Firstly, they can ensure the development of their respective villages through union councils. People can go to the Union Council and discuss these matters directly with the President and members. Secondly, the Union Council was non-political for a long time. Victory or defeat in elections depended on personal interaction and identity.
In 2015, the Awami League government decided that local government elections should be contested under party symbols and amended the law accordingly. Party people used to contest elections earlier also, but with different symbols. Since they were not representing any party, voters would vote for them individually, regardless of party affiliation. But then the ruling party thought that since they were in power at the Centre, they would have to control the local governments also.
Irrespective of which party’s government the elections are held in, the people in power exert their influence and sway the elections in their favor. And the same happened in the case of local government elections. In most places, people from the ruling party control the local government. The local people did not benefit from this. On the contrary, it has been harmful in many cases. One-party governance system has spread from the center to the village level.
After the 2014 elections, the Awami League government suddenly decided that the party symbol would not be used in local government elections. What was the reason behind this craze? In the national elections this time, we saw that the contest was between the Awami League and the “dummy” of the Awami League, or the “boat” versus the “independent” candidate – all from the same camp. So it does not matter who won the election, the Awami League can claim that the winner was theirs.