BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has urged the voters in three city corporations - Dhaka South, Dhaka North and Chittagong - to exact a silent revenge against all kinds of injustice, repression and corruption by the ruling quarter through casting their votes in favour of her party-backed candidates.
Calling upon the voters to guard the polling stations throughout election day, she said voters from all walks of life should go to the polling centres without any fear in the morning to cast their votes by maintaining discipline and stay there till announcement of the results.
"The voters should resist any possible move of vote rigging with the help of other voters and general people. Vote is a powerful tool against any injustice.…use it properly for exacting a silent revenge or bringing about a revolution against the government, which already took away your franchise," the BNP chairperson said at a press briefing at the Gulshan party office on Sunday afternoon.
It was her first press conference since leaving the office in early April after days of protests in the form of nonstop transport blockade and hartal. She said her party and allies decided to take part in the local government elections in such an adverse atmosphere as they know people are waiting for a scope to give opinions against all repressions, injustice, unethical practices and corruption resorted to by the government frequently.
"So, cast your (voters) valuable votes in favour of our candidates in the three city corporations for a clean, planned, accountable and corruption-free city corporations," she appealed.
Mentioning seven reasons for participating in the city corporation polls, Khaleda Zia, who is also chief of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, said her party took the election as a test case for the government, ruling party, Election Commission, administration and the law enforcers.
She said the people of the country had already understood that the government, ruling party, Election Commission, administration and the law enforcers failed the test at every stage in ensuring a congenial atmosphere for the polls.
The former Prime Minister reiterated her demand for deploying members of the armed forces with judicial power in the poll areas for a certain period for ensuring free, fair, acceptable and rigging-free elections.
Heavily criticising the role of the Election Commission (EC), she said the commission earlier announced that the army would be deployed in the election areas before and after the polls as a striking force to avert any possible untoward incident.
But the EC, biased towards the ruling party, adopted a new trick with the instruction of the government and sent a modified letter to the authorities concerned stating that the armed forces would stay in the cantonment as the striking force and would act under the instruction of magistrates, if the presiding officers in the polling stations call for, she said.
"It's worthless and deceptive. The ruling party does not want to deploy military during the polls as they think that it will create a hindrance to executing their vote rigging plan," she said.
The BNP chief said the ruling party started realising that their candidates would lose the April 28 elections in the three city corporations. "That's why they created obstacles and launched attack on the campaign of our candidates. Police and ruling party cadres also threatened their polling agents," she said.
During the press briefing, the BNP Chairperson also blamed the pro-government men for the recent attacks on her motorcade at four locations - Uttara, Karwanbazar, Fokirapul and Banglamotor in the capital, saying that the attacks were made only to kill her.
"I was also shot during the attacks. But luckily I was saved by the grace of Allah," she said.
The attacks were preplanned and outcomes of the instigating remarks made by the Prime Minister and her cabinet members.
Police and the Election Commission did nothing in this connection although local dailies released the photographs of the pro-government attackers, she said.
"Rather than arresting the genuine attackers, police filed cases against the BNP-supported councilor candidates," she said.
Responding to a query, the BNP Chairperson said they demanded a neutral administration for holding the parliamentary elections. But the demand would not be applicable to the local government elections, she added.
The BNP-backed mayoral aspirants are Mirza Abbas contesting election with the symbol mug in Dhaka South City Corporation, Tabith Awal in the race with the symbol bus in Dhaka North City Corporation and Manzur Alam joining the fray with the symbol orange in Chittagong City Corporation.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
