Undoubtedly, Dr. Yunus has become the blue-eyed boy of the corporate world, for his excellent performance and innovations in the field of investment and marketing of finance capital and technology among the poor through micro-credit.

But what will a Nobel laureate look like when he/she is turned into a politician?

Mr. Yunus has expressed his keen desire to enter politics, and many of his well wishers would like to see him in the ring right now. He does have a vast network in rural Bangladesh that has been set up by Grameen Bank.

Dr. Yunus undoubtedly has rapport with foreign leaders. He has a very good contacts with non-resident Bangladeshis, who don't have the right to vote during elections in Bangladesh.

Then how many voters in Bangladesh know him closely if they need to select him or his party in the elections?

The level of popularity of a politician tends to be very volatile, making it difficult to sustain the same level of support for any length of time, and the outcome of any election more difficult to predict than before.

People must have noticed in recent months the ups and downs of the popularity of major politicians in Bangladesh.

Before entering into politics, Dr. Muhammad Yunus and all of his well wishers have to keep in mind several questions. Can he reach the rural people as a politician? Will general Bangladeshis be happy to see him as a politician? What do the urban elite think of him?

Will he able to overcome volatile political practices in Bangladesh? Does he think he can be a model as a politician too? What will be the impact if he fails to do well as a politician?

In a relatively young democracy with a highly polarized political system, the general people in Bangladesh aren't aware of the electoral and democratic processes of the country.

According to the Bangladesh Economic Review 2005, Ministry of Finance, the present literacy rate of Bangladesh is 62.66%. Very few of them know how to select the right person for the state.

There are a lot of things, which pollute the politics in Bangladesh.

Religion exerts a powerful influence on politics, and the government was sensitive to the Islamic consciousness of its political allies and the majority of its citizens.

The ups and downs in the use of religion, religious identities and religious symbolism in the politics of Bangladesh over the last twenty-five years raises so many questions about true democracy.

NGOs at the grass-roots level have emerged as a modernizing influence in the rural areas, and have often had head-on collisions with the "traditional" spheres such as madrassas (Islamic religious schools).

Ironically madrassas and village Imams have been considered likely catalysts for development in the rural areas.

One of the prime bones of contention between the NGOs and Islamist parties in the rural areas has been the subject of increasing visibility of women in public.

NGOs in Bangladesh have been particularly successful in bringing women into income earning and educational programs.

Village power structures, using Islam as a way of social control, have attacked this phenomenon as being un-Islamic and undesirable for a country like Bangladesh.

The use of muscle power is also not new in elections. Muscle power is crucial in determining the outcome of voting. Muscle power can drive away the campaign workers from the field.

There are stories where active workers were threatened out of their constituencies and could return home only after the election.

Is it possible for Dr. Yunus to use muscle power in the political combat?

Corruption is endemic in Bangladesh, and greed seems to be limitless. Public service in this social environment has become a victim of deal-making.

In politics, the power of money has assumed an unprecedented level of importance. First and foremost, money is required to build and maintain the muscle power.

Political parties now have student wings, labor wings, ladies wings, youth wings, and so on and so forth.

Even professional associations are aligned to political parties; for example, medical practitioners have separate associations aligned to major political parties. Most parties have their storm-troopers to extend party influence and enforce party discipline.

Within parties, powerful leaders have their own strong-arm supporters to maintain their individual positions in the party. Dr. Yunus may need these wings when he enters politics.

If a nationwide objective, efficient and comprehensive survey is conducted, the actual picture would be revealed.

This would mean going to a large number of rural voters to see how far corruption, prices of essentials, and the power crisis, are factors for them.

In general, corruption is a huge matter, but if that was so, how could Ershad be a success in Rangpur even after he fell in the face of a mass uprising?

Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, herself, was defeated from a constituency in Rangpur, which happens to be her husband's hometown. She lost that constituency due to the popularity of the last dictator-president of Bangladesh, General H.M Ershad.

However, to do well in politics, having Nobel prize, and getting Nobel prize for being a good politician may not be same, especially in Bangladesh.

Imran Khan, one of the best all-rounders in the history of cricket, has entered politics in Pakistan and set up his own party, Tehreek-a-Insaf (Campaign for Justice).

Although Imran Khan himself is the chairman, the party is still struggling in politics, and in the two elections it participated in it could not get even one seat in the first, and won a single seat in the next election, that seat was of Imran himself.

We can hardly forget the iron lady of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991, held under house arrest in Myanmar for pro-democracy movement.

The 61-year-old political prisoner still continues to denounce oppression and human rights violations and encourages peaceful protest across the country.

As every case is different, Dr. Muhammad Yunus might not be proved a failure in the field of politics.

But people naturally don't react positively if someone becomes second from first. And those politicians became first from second.

In Bangladesh, Grameen banks have side-stepped the local power structure and provided a mechanism for the poor to take responsibility for their own socio-economic development.

Since a Grameen Bank is part of village life in Bangladesh, the villagers and their children do not starve anymore, their houses keep them out of the monsoon, the women have more than one sari.

But is it enough to make them cast their votes in favor of Dr. Yunus?

Everyone in Bangladesh feels that terrorism, bureaucracy and corruption are the major obstacles to clean politics.

If that is so, then how does a corrupt person become an MP again and again? How do radical fundamentalists become ministers? How can a dictator change the shape of democracy?

There is a big gap between a potential good politician and a real politician in Bangladesh. People of Bangladesh are more likely to see Dr. Muhammad Yunus as a political institution, not as a politician.

Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York.