BNP on Wednesday alleged that the government has approved a Tk 3,825.34 crore project to procure 1.5 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) to hold another ‘voter-less’ election and ‘plunder’ huge public money.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, he further said, “The government has two objectives--holding a voter-less rigged election and embezzling huge amount of public money—behind the move to procure EVMs.”

On Tuesday, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) cleared a Tk 3,825.34 crore project to procure 1.5 lakh EVMs at its weekly meeting held with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The BNP leader said the government has taken such a project as it needs an election, but not people’s votes. “Procuring EVMs is very essential for the government to return to power as voters are not necessary to take votes through the machines.”

He alleged law enforcers arrested many BNP leaders and activists and lawyers as they went to Detective Branch (DB) of police office to see arrested BNP Dhaka south city unit president Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel on Tuesday night.

The BNP leader claimed that police arrested their party’s 93 leaders and activists, including Sohel, on Tuesday from different parts of the country.

Rizvi also alleged that the government is creating various obstacles to ensuring treatment of their party’s ailing chairperson Khaleda Zia in jail. 

“An experienced and senior therapist of Dhaka Medical College Hospital used to provide our leader physiotherapy regularly. But, the government now has appointed an inexperienced and pro-ruling party therapist to do the job dropping the experienced one. It’s a mysterious move of the government,” he said.

Rizvi alleged that the government is conspiring to put Khaleda’s life at stake gradually by snatching her human rights and leaving her in serious sufferings.