Staff Reporter :BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia took part in the election campaign for her party-backed candidates again on Friday after the repair of her damaged car.She paused her campaign on Thursday following the damage of her bulletproof car and other vehicles of her security staff, used as part of her motorcade, by the miscreants in city’s Bangla Motor area on Wednesday. She campaign for Tabith Awal, the party-blessed mayor candidate in the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) polls at Shahjadpur, Notun Bazar, Pragati Sarani, Bishwa Road and some other areas in the capital city. She left her Gulshan residence for the polls campaign in the afternoon and continued the electioneering for several hours. Hundreds of the BNP men marched escorting her motorcade. Supporters of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student affiliate of BNP, took extra measures to protect the motorcade. During her campaign, Khaleda Zia distributed leaflets seeking votes for Tabith and party-backed councillor candidates. She also spoke at a wayside rally at the entrance point of Bashundhara Residential Area. In her brief speech, she came down heavily on the Election Commission (EC) for its retreat from the decision of army deployment during the city polls. She demanded army for the sake of free and fair elections. “It is not possible to ensure security of voters keeping the army at cantonments. Our army provides security during elections in different countries. Then why they will not be deployed during the elections in our country,” said the BNP chief. Expressing optimism about success of the BNP-backed candidates, she said, “The voters of Dhaka have already taken their decision. They want change.”The ruling party men attacked Khaleda Zia’s motorcade in city’s Uttara, Kawran Bazar, Fakirerpol and Bangla Motor areas during her city election campaigns from Sunday to Wednesday respectively.The BNP chief, however, on Friday did not face obstacle like previous days.
