Regarding the growing interest in Jamaat, political analyst Asif Bin Ali commented, “Over the last year and a half, Jamaat and Shibir have run a highly organized campaign on social media while maintaining strong consistency. Slogans like ‘You’ve seen Awami League, you’ve seen BNP, now watch Jamaat’ have been in use for some time. Judging by social media, it looks like Jamaat is set to do very well. But when compared with reliable surveys So there’s a bit of a mismatch between hype and reality.”
Asif Bin Ali said, “Another thing to remember is that only 50 per cent of people in Bangladesh have internet access, and the number of social media users is even less. Thus, people outside the circle of internet and social media will vote as silent voters. We do not know much about these silent voters yet, so it is not appropriate to make predictions based on social media campaigning. Local dynamics, local politics, people’s preferences, voter bank of Awami League and “Minority votes will all affect this.”
People associated with Jamaat politics see the situation differently. When teacher and researcher Mardiya Momtaz was spoken to, she said, “First, people were in the dark for a long time about the organizational grace, fair conduct and tolerance of the Jamaat. This darkness was lifted after August 5. People saw first-hand the leadership and standards of the party. Second, the Jamaat has made people aware about the fascist regime characterized by disappearances, killings and persecution in the last 17 years. Third, by the Jamaat The nomination of educated, corruption-free, non-defaulting candidates has attracted people. The wave of support towards Jamaat is no exaggeration, it is the enthusiasm and spontaneous expression generated due to the fear-free environment.”