The BNP is doubtful about free and fair upazila elections. It claims that the Election Commission (EC) has failed to ensure a congenial atmosphere for the polls and the candidates backed by the party are being arrested, abducted and obstructed from campaigning in the polls. BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the allegation while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the grave of BNP founder and late President Ziaur Rahman in the city on Tuesday. Leaders and workers of Jatiyatabadi Tanti Dal, a front body of the BNP, placed the wreaths along with Mirza Fakhrul to mark the 34th founding anniversary of the body.
The BNP also lodged a written complaint with the EC. A delegation led by the party Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed went to the EC office to lodge the complaint.
Mirza Fakhrul accused the government of using joint forces to kill, abduct and arrest the leaders and workers of the BNP and its alliance partners, abstracting the BNP-led alliance-backed candidates from campaigning. “We believe that the EC has again failed to create a proper environment for the upazila election, which they couldn’t during the general polls,” he said.
He, however, hoped that the BNP-backed candidates would win in most of the upazilas if the election is held in a free, fair and credible manner.
The BNP leader criticised the government for extending the tenure of the Speedy Trial Act for another five years. The government is heading towards a one-party rule. The extension of tenure of the Act is part of the design, he said. The cabinet on Friday endorsed it. The Act was supposed to expire on April 7 this year.
Meanwhile, after lodging the complaint, Rizvi Ahmed accused the present government of following the strategy of the January-5 ‘one-sided’ polls in the upzaila election. The BNP-backed candidates in the polls are facing various harassments, including false cases and disappearance, he added.
He warned of a massive movement would be waged against the EC in case of rigging in the first phase of the upazila election.
