Bangladesh, Sept. 1 -- The by-election race in Thakurgaon-1 has started taking shape after the seat fell vacant when Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir becane president, but the BNP is yet to finalise its candidate while Jamaat-e-Islami has already named its pick.

Talking to party workers, two names have emerged as BNP's likely picks: the president's younger brother Mirza Faisal Amin, and his elder daughter Mirza Shamaruh.

The Jamaat-led 11-party alliance moved first.

On Sunday, it named Delawar Hossain, a former president of Islami Chhatra Shibir and now assistant secretary of Jamaat's Dhaka metropolitan south unit, as its candidate.

Ordinary voters, meanwhile, say party labels matter less than continuity. Whoever wins, they want the area'...