Staff Correspondent
The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Thursday called upon the people to vote for her party’s symbol ‘boat’ without fear and remain vigilant against any attempt at vote rigging.
‘Attempts to intimidate voters will not be tolerated. Cast your vote for Awami League to build a prosperous Bangladesh and end all types of repression’, Hasina told a large election rally at Nawabganj Pilot High School ground, 27 kilometres south of the capital, in Dhaka 1 parliamentary constituency in favour of AL candidate Advocate Abdul Mannan.
She also addressed two other campaign rallies, one at Lalbagh of Dhaka 7 in favour of AL-led alliance candidate Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, and a wayside rally at Rohitpur in Dhaka 2 constituency.
Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to address an election rally, on the final leg of her electioneering for December 29 polls, Friday afternoon at Paltan Ground.
The AL chief introduced alliance candidates Advocate Kamrul Islam for Dhaka 2 and Nasrul Hamid Bipu for Dhaka 3 at the wayside rally. Thousands of people standing at roadsides in different places welcomed Hasina as her motorcade passed by. They chanted slogans in favour of ‘boat’ and the AL chief.
In Nawabganj, businessman Noor Ali, who had filed an ‘extortion’ case against Hasina during the state of emergency and withdrawn it recently, stood beside her on the dais saying he hoped all misunderstandings had been removed.
‘I offer an apology if you [audience] are hurt by the misunderstanding. I’m here to strengthen the hands of Sheikh Hasina, I’m here to work for victory of the AL candidate in the parliamentary seat’, said Noor Ali, who was the AL candidate for the constituency in 2001 election and was chosen for January 22, 2007 elections as the party candidate.
In her addresses, Hasina compared her 1996-2001 tenure in office with the rule of the BNP-led alliance government in 2001-2006 saying that the BNP-Jamaat rule had pushed the nation to the brink of disaster. ‘Instead of development, they gave the nation corruption, violence and militancy’, she said.
She called upon the voters to stamp the symbol of ‘boat’ on the ballot to ensure peace, development and security and put an end to crimes, corruption and militancy.
Introducing Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin for Dhaka 7 at a rally organised at Shaheed Abdul Aleem Eidgah ground at Lalbagh, Hasina said her party had nominated a ‘complete gentleman who always takes care of his people.’
In contrast, the BNP has nominated a person who led the killing of seven people in the area after the 1994 elections to the Dhaka City Corporation. ‘You know well about his behaviour in jail’, she said without naming the BNP nominee for the constituency.
‘I leave it to you to choose the best candidate from among the contenders’, she told the locals.
Hasina promised to take appropriate measures, if her party was voted to power, to address the problems facing the locals, including water and electricity shortages.
She accused her political rival Khaleda Zia of not continuing the programmes in education sector saying she [Khaleda] did not want the people to be educated.
‘She [Khaleda] does not want people to get education as she failed in matriculation examinations’, she said adding the AL would take every effort to ensure free education for all if it was voted to power.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
