Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza set the internet and media on fire when he announced that he will be contesting the upcoming polls in the Narail-2 constituency on an Awami League ticket.

While his fans and people in general are still coming to terms with his transition from the cricket pitch to the political arena, AL activists and leaders are busy campaigning on behalf of him since he is busy trying to win the ODIs against the Windies with the polls a mere 17 days away.

The election campaigns kicked off with full gusto after the Election Commission allocated the symbols on Dec 10 and to nobody’s surprise, Mashrafe was allocated the ‘boat’ symbol.

Mashrafe is yet to start campaign personally given that he is needed in the pitch. This however, did not dampen the spirits of his fans. His supports have adopted the mantra ‘we fight for Mashrafe while he fights for a Bangladesh win on the pitch.’ For the people in his constituency, he is forever in their hearts even when he is out there on the playing field.

Just because the beloved athlete is unable to carry out his polls campaign at the moment, does not mean he is lagging behind.

The AL women leaders go door to door every day asking votes for him and the party leaders are working with unity to ensure his win.

Meanwhile it’s just not his party leaders who are working for his victory. His friends and batch mates got his back too.

“The 1999 batch of Narail High School is also campaigning for Mashrafe. His friends are distributing leaflets, holding rallies, discussion meetings and various programs everyday,” said the cricketer’s friend Sumon Das.

“Mashrafe might come to Naril on Dec 16 or 17 after the game ends,” said his father Golam Mortaza Shopon.

“He is scheduled to take part in the polls campaign and stay here for a while,” he added.

On the other hand AL’s Narail unit President Shubhas Chandra Bose, is hopeful that Mashrafe will win by a wide margin and his absence in the election will do nothing to hamper it, given that the party activists are working tirelessly on his behalf.

Needless to say the Narail residents are ecstatic for him and are hoping that the district will see the light of development if he gets a seat in the parliament.

Mashrafee's Competition:

Narail-2elections at a glance:

Narail-2 constituency has total voters of 3,17,872.

There are 3,572 female voters in this seat with the 1, 57,105 male voters and 1,60,677 voters.

Awami League won five times in this constituency in the years 1973,1991,1996,2008 and 2014.

Jatiya Party won the elections here in 1986 and 1988 while BNP won in 1979 and 2001 in the by-polls