The popularity of the ruling Awami League (AL) has appeared to be receded to the bottom in the last four and a half years, observed leading Indian Bengali daily the Anandabazar.
The setback of the ruling AL in the recently ended mayoral polls raised questions among many whether a change is in offing in the state power of Bangladesh. Though the ruling camp is saying that the electoral debacle resulted from the party’s failure to counter the propaganda of the fundamentalist forces, the opposition termed it as the outcome of the government’s misrule, the daily said.
According to the critics of the government, the effort to bank on the sentiment of the pro-liberation people through organising the Ganajagaran Mancha at Shabagh Square was to divert the public attention from the government’s failure in various sector, the daily said.
A section alleged that India’s failure to sign the Teesta agreement and the Land Boundary Agreement are also responsible for the fall in the popularity of the AL government. But, the New Delhi’s policymakers feel that domestic political trend of Bangladesh is not determined by the foreign policy of India, the Anandabazar report said.
The report also observed that the failure in mitigating the load shedding problems and the alleged corruption in the Padma Bridge project also damaged the reputation of the government.
However, the daily said that the debacle in the city corporation elections at least provided a weapon to the ruling party as it has strengthened the ruling party’s stance that free and fair election is possible under the present government, the report added.
-With The Independent input
