Dhaka, Apr 26 (Just News): The BNP on Thursday alleged that a 19-member Bangladesh Awami League (AL) delegation went to India, exposing the party’s ‘desperate bid’ to hold another 'lopsided' general election with external interference.
Criticising the ruling party for such move, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi referred to AL leader Mahbubul Alam Hanif's comment that it will rule the country as long as long Sheikh Hasina is alive.
“[This comment]… has exposed the government's real autocratic nature,” the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader told a press conference at the party's Naya Paltan central office.
"Did you go to India with a big team for a negotiation to stay in power? As the government has come to know that the Awami League won't get more than 20-22 seats in fair polls, they're now making frantic efforts for holding a one-sided election with interference by others," Rizvi said.
He, however, warned that the people of Bangladesh will not give the AL any scope this time around to cling on to power by holding a stage-managed election.
A 19-member AL team, led by its general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, visited India and met top leaders of the ruling camp in New Delhi last week.
Returning home, the party's joint general secretary Hanif at a programme at Mahanagar Natya Mancha in the capital on Wednesday said, "As long as Sheikh Hasina is alive and able to work, she will remain the Prime Minister and Awami league will be there in power."
Rizvi said the ruling party leader's comment also revealed the government's dangerous master plan to push the country into a civil war.
"His comment carries an indication that the government has a plan to restore one-party Baksal rule by exiling democracy forever."
He renewed the BNP's demand for ensuring better treatment of their ailing chairperson Khaleda Zia at United Hospital by her personal physicians.
The BNP leader alleged that state minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam has raised an absurd question about their acting chairman Tarique Rahman's Bangladeshi citizenship only to divert people's attention to a different direction from the issue of Khaleda's illness.
He said Tarique submitted his passport to the British Home Office only for getting the political asylum there. "He didn't surrender his passport, but the government is spreading a false campaign about it."
He questioned the prime minister whether she gave up her Bangladeshi citizenship during her stay in India's Delhi after the assassination her father in 1975.
(Justnews/ys/2120hr)
