Desk Report,
BSDP applies for registration showing rented flat as head office, no signboard
Ahead of the parliamentary elections, 147 parties have submitted applications to the Election Commission to register as new political parties. One of them is the Bangladesh Social Democratic Party (BSDP). However, the address given as the party’s head office in Khulna is a residential building in a residential area. In reality, no sign of political activity was found there.
BSDP applies for registration showing rented flat as head office, no signboard
The name of the new party’s chairman is Dr. Bibhuti Roy. He introduced himself as a former professor at the University of Bremen, Germany. His home is in Khalshibunia, Gangarampur Union, Batiaghata, Khulna.
The address given by the BSDP to the Election Commission as its head office is a four-story residential building located in the Nirala Prantika residential area of Khulna. When we went there on Tuesday morning, we saw that there was no party signboard, let alone a plaque with the name or address of the building.
After investigating, it was learned that one of the two owners of the building is Kamrul Islam. He is a retired additional deputy police commissioner of the Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP). He told Prothom Alo, “Bibhuti Roy lives on the fourth floor of my house. He lives in a flat. He lives in Batiyaghata most of the time. He comes home occasionally. His wife and two children live in Germany. He is the son-in-law of former Speaker Sheikh Razzak Ali.”
We spoke to four tenants of the house. Two of them could not say anything about Bibhuti Roy. One tenant said that he comes occasionally. He comes in an ambulance. If there is an ambulance in the parking lot, you know he has come. However, we did not see any people coming with him. And we never saw anything from a political party.
Another tenant said, “The address is limited only to paper. Still, it is good to know that the head office of a political party is next to our house. Once there was a rush to open an NGO and now to open a political party.”
When contacted on the mobile number given in the BSDP application form submitted to the Election Commission, a person named Mahbub Suman picked up the phone. He introduced himself as the general secretary of the party. When asked where the party office was, he said, “Our office is in Sonadanga, Khulna.” When asked where Sonadanga was, he said, “There is a residence in Sonadanga. I don’t remember the name of any residence, I live in Dhaka.”
