The BNP has alleged that the party-led alliance-backed elected Upazila representatives have been prevented from taking oath in a repeat of harassment the candidates loyal to the party and its allies faced before the Upazila Parishad elections.
BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed made the allegation at a press conference on Thursday.
The ruling party had trailed the BNP in the first two rounds of the Upazila Parishad elections. The party was lagging its arch-rivals, the BNP, even after the candidates endorsed by it made a strong comeback in the third phase.
But the Awami League took the lead after the fourth leg by bagging maximum number of chairman posts.
After the fifth phase, polling has ended in 459 out of 487 Upazilas. Results of 448 Upazilas have been announced so far.
The Awami League now has 231 Upazila chairmen while the BNP has 161 after the fifth round of the staggered polls. Including Jamaat’s 35 and LDP’s one, the BNP-led 19-Party alliance now has a total of 197 chairmen.
However, the BNP has been alleging that the ruling Awami League has denied it a victory in the Upazila polls by gross misuses of state machinery.
BNP leader Salahuddin said, “The opposition endorsed chairmen and vice-chairmen elect are being arrested before the oath-taking. Many are not able to take part in the oath-taking ceremony as they have been made accused in false cases.”
He also claimed that the government unleashed terrorism, violence and anarchy across the country after the end of the Upazila polls.
Salahuddin said that the BNP leaders and activists were attacked at Gopalpur in Tangail, in Sylhet, Laxmipur, Rajbari, Jamalpur, Noakhali, Bagerhat, Cox’s Bazar, Kishoreganj and Jhenaidah after the elections.
“The way government is unleashing terrorism and mayhem, it appears that the last spring of the Awami League’s one-party BAKSAL rule is being observed.”
He also reiterated that ruling Awami League activists had rigged the Upazila elections.
“The main duty of the law enforcing agencies was to help the criminals of the ruling party. The partisan Election Commission helped in triggering clashes during the Upazila polls.”
Salahuddin said that the BNP decided not to announce any programme which will cause sufferings to the examinees during the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations that started at 8,104 educational institutions across the country on Thursday.
“We will not announce any political programme that causes sufferings to students and the countrymen. Rather, we will take people with us to wage a movement against the government,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid urged all political parties not to resort to any destructive programme during the examinations that would cause harm to country’s future generation.
Last year, the education ministry had to reschedule the examinations of several subjects of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations due to the countrywide day-long general strikes called by the BNP demanding restoration of the non-party caretaker government system.
BNP Vice-Chairman Abdullah Al Noman, Education Affairs Secretary Khairul Kabir Khokon, Assistant Office Secretaries Abdul Latif Johnny, Shamimur Rahman Shamim and Asadul Karim Shahin were present at the press conference.
Source: Bd news24
