Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said on Tuesday that BNP has secretly been taking preparations for long to take part in the next parliament election, reports BSS.
"We have information that BNP has secretly been taking preparations for the next parliament election since long," said Obaidul Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister.
The government will give all necessary assistances to the victims of the devastating fire that burnt down around 8000 shanties and injured four persons at a slum in the city's Mirpur on Monday, the minister said.
"Over 3.6 tonnes of rice and Tk 10,00,000 have been allocated as immediate assistances from the government. The deputy commissioner (DC) has been asked to enlist the victims as soon as possible to facilitate the rehabilitation activities," he told newsmen after visiting the burnt slum at Mirpur-12 on Tuesday morning.
Quader said investigation is underway as a three-member committee headed by Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defence Debashish Bardhan was formed to probe the fire incident with a directive to complete the investigation within seven working days.
Earlier, the minister along with party leaders and workers visited the fire victims at the Ilias Ali Mollah Slum.
AL Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, Dhaka City North AL General Secretary Sadeq Khan, local lawmakers Ilias Ali Mollah and Aslamul Haque were present on the occasion.
Replying to a question of newsmen, the AL general secretary ruled out any understanding between the government and the BNP over Khaleda Zia's bail.
Quader said the court has given five-year imprisonment to Khaleda in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case while the court also granted a four-month interim bail to her.
"The government has no role here," he said, adding that it is the court's jurisdiction whether it will allow Khaleda's housemaid in jail and give permission to hold a meeting with BNP's standing committee members.
The AL general secretary said BNP becomes happy when their party chief gets bail and becomes disappointed when their leaders are convicted.
