Tarique Rahman calls on activists to take to the field unitedly in the ‘electoral war’.

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has called on the party’s leaders and activists to take to the field unitedly to face the ‘electoral war’.

Addressing the party’s grassroots leaders who had come from across the country, he said, “You are tested; you have held onto the party amidst a hundred forms of oppression and torture. You faced everything, from the conspiracy of One-Eleven [military-backed interim government] to the conspiracy during the last $15$ years of the autocracy. So why can’t you face the coming electoral war? Why can’t you present your party’s plan concerning the people and the country to the public? You can do it if you want; you must do it.”

Tarique Rahman made these remarks as the chief guest at an event organized by the BNP at the Krishibid Institution Auditorium in Farmgate, Dhaka, on Thursday evening (December $11$). He joined the event virtually. Over a thousand leaders from the BNP’s divisional organizational units participated in the program, titled ‘Plan for Nation Building.’

Emphasizing the need to build public opinion in favor of the Paddy Sheaf (BNP’s election symbol), Tarique Rahman addressed the leaders, saying, “You will go to your area, you will work hard to make your party’s plans successful. The Paddy Sheaf will be before you. No individual will be before you. You will bring out the Paddy Sheaf. You will unite the people’s opinions in favor of the Paddy Sheaf. You will bring the people’s mandate for the Paddy Sheaf together inside the ballot box.”

He said, “It won’t be enough to just hold meetings. You have to form small groups and go door-to-door, field-to-field. You have to go to the farmers’ fields. You have to go to the Imams and Muazzins of the mosques. You have to go to the teachers of primary schools and high schools. You have to go to the mothers and sisters in every household. You have to go to the young men and women in schools and colleges.”

The BNP Acting Chairman mentioned that those who spread misinformation will retreat when activists take to the field. He said, “The people must know our plans. It is not possible for the people to know without you. If you don’t go, someone else is going and spreading lies and confusion among the people. So, this lying and confusion will stop only when you show up in the field. When you show up in the field, they won’t be able to spread this confusion. You saw a video where a few women went to ask a woman to vote with her child on her head, and the woman protested. Such incidents are happening. Because you have taken to the field today, those who protest are also gaining courage. When you are more present in the field, this kind of protest will increase.”

Tarique Rahman commented that the upcoming national parliamentary election will not be as easy as people think. He addressed the party activists, saying, “The thing I said a year, or a little over a year ago, that the upcoming election is not what you think it is, is slowly being proven true today. If we are not serious even now, the existence and sovereignty of this country will be threatened in the future. Only democracy can save it. And every single person in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party can strengthen the foundation of that democracy.”

Tarique Rahman said that the party’s plans must be taken to the doorsteps of the people. Then, the people will surely give the BNP a chance to govern the country. He further added that if the BNP comes to power, it will not be a partisan government. They will have to work for those who did not vote for the BNP, as well as those who did. Work cannot be done for specific individuals only.

The BNP Acting Chairman stated that the BNP is not selling dreams; the BNP will implement dreams. There is not much time left until the election. Everyone must support those the party has given the Paddy Sheaf to. Candidates will come, and candidates will change, but the party and the ideology will remain.

Claiming that other political parties are trying to confuse people by lying, Tarique Rahman said that BNP activists do not need to lie. It will be enough to convey the realistic plans that have been adopted to the people. This work is difficult. But it can be achieved if everyone tries together.

Tarique Rahman also called on all party activists to go to the people and bring the public mandate in favor of the Paddy Sheaf to protect the country’s democracy and sovereignty.

At the event, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman would return to the country very soon. He said, “Our leader will be among us very soon. The day our leader arrives, the day he steps on the soil of Bangladesh—the whole of Bangladesh must tremble. You must remember this, can you do it? Insha’Allah. On that day, we want to change the face of the whole of Bangladesh.”

He added, “The struggle now is the struggle to win this election. We have to win completely in this election so that we get the opportunity to advance Bangladesh. Many obstacles will come, many troubles will arise, much propaganda is being spread against us, and it will continue. But we want to overcome all of these and stand tall. The BNP has never been defeated, and it will not be defeated.”

The event was presided over by BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, and moderated by Joint Secretary General Habib Un Nabi Khan Sohel. Shahidul Islam Khan Babul, General Secretary of the Krishi Dal (Farmers’ Party), Mahdi Amin, Advisor to the BNP Acting Chairman, and Aminul Haque, Convener of Dhaka Metropolitan North, among others, were present at the event.

IA/Sakalbela