Children and relatives of several Awami League ministers and MPs contested the elections in violation of party directives. In most cases, the MPs played their part to ensure their relatives' victory. Some central leaders believe that the MPs have challenged the party's top leadership by not withdrawing the candidature of their children and relatives.
Elections for 442 upazilas were held in four phases and ended on June 5. Due to cyclone Remal, elections for 19 upazilas were postponed and rescheduled for June 9. Voting took place in a total of 461 upazilas.
It was found that among the elected chairpersons, 33 are relatives of ministers and MLAs while more than 300 are close associates of local MLAs. The number of relatives and close associates is around 350, which is 77 percent of the total elected chairpersons. The picture is similar for the posts of vice-president and female vice-president.
An Awami League central leader, on condition of anonymity, told Prothom Alo that the MPs have got their people elected in the Upazila Parishad elections within four months of the national election. This trend is likely to be repeated in other local government elections such as Union Parishad, Pourashawa and Zilla Parishad.