BNP must be brought to power for country’s welfare: Salam

BNP Chairperson’s Adviser and Chief Coordinator of the Dhaka-17 Election Campaign Committee Abdus Salam, has asserted that there is no alternative to bringing the BNP to power for the welfare of the country and its people.

Tarique Rahman is currently the most qualified and widely acceptable leader to become Bangladesh’s prime minister, he claimed.

Speaking at a view-exchange meeting with CNG auto-rickshaw drivers on Tuesday (20 January) at the BNP’s Dhaka-17 constituency office in Banani, Abdus Salam said, “We must work on the ground. Without action, there will be no results. Those who claim to love Tarique Rahman must prove it in the voting field.”

Calling on CNG auto-rickshaw, auto-rickshaw, rickshaw and private car drivers, he announced that formal election campaigning would begin from 22 January. He urged drivers to display party stickers and leaflets on their vehicles or even handwrite messages seeking votes for Tarique Rahman, assuring them that there was nothing to fear.

Abdus Salam also warned that certain groups were attempting to undermine the election by offering money to waste votes. “Do not sacrifice your faith for money,” he said, adding that such efforts were aimed at obstructing the BNP’s progress in a limited number of constituencies.

He stressed the need to make ordinary people aware of these tactics.

Directing party activists to carry out organised campaigning across all four police station areas of the Dhaka-17 constituency, he said it was mandatory for party activists to reach slum areas, working-class communities, and residential zones of CNG and rickshaw workers.

“The BNP has always stood by the people in times of crisis and will continue to do so. There is no one more worthy than Tarique Rahman to be prime minister,” Abdus Salam added.

Leaders and supporters present at the meeting expressed solidarity with his remarks and pledged to work unitedly to make Tarique Rahman prime minister.

Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson’s adviser Professor Dr Farhad Halim Donar urged party workers to clearly communicate the party’s core eight-point agenda to the public, particularly issues related to health cards and family cards.

He also alleged that rival parties were paying some CNG drivers to spread misinformation among passengers. Describing the practice as unacceptable, he called on party supporters to resist such propaganda and actively distribute BNP leaflets, which he said would be made available from the party office.

“We will welcome and respect new supporters, but betrayal will not be tolerated,” he said, stressing the importance of loyalty to those who had stood by the party through years of hardship.

He urged activists to take to the field from the following day, expressing confidence that the campaign would move forward through collective effort.