Dhaka, Feb 9 (PTI) BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman on Monday concluded his nationwide election campaign ahead of the February 12 polls, underscoring the party’s vision for a “self-reliant” and “democratic” Bangladesh, if elected to power.
“We have planned our vision of Bangladesh, keeping every class and profession in mind. No segment of society has been excluded,” the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader said in a nationwide address broadcast by the state-run BTV.
Describing February 12 as the day to establish people’s rights, Rahman appealed to “students, farmers, workers, rickshaw pullers, garment workers, teachers, journalists, intellectuals, professionals, mothers, and sisters” to vote for the BNP’s symbol — Sheaf of Paddy.
He said the BNP pledged to restore “absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah” to the constitution and also reaffirmed the establishment of a pluralistic society where citizens of all faiths remain safe and secure.
“BNP wants to build a safe Bangladesh where Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, believers, non-believers, and sceptics — people of hills and plains — are all safe,” said Rahman, who was elected to the BNP’s helm last month after the demise of his mother, party chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
Rahman said that “no one asked what religion someone belonged to” during the 1971 Liberation War or during the July Uprising of 2024 that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government.
“We believe: religion is personal, the state belongs to all,” Rahman said.
He said Bangladesh has now arrived at a historic crossroads in its democratic transition.
In an oblique reference to the Awami League government, he said that despite the constitution guaranteeing people’s ownership of the country, “a fallen, defeated, and ousted clique had snatched away the ownership of the state from the people”.
Rahman said the ouster of the regime was the result of more than one and a half decades of “anti-fascist” movement by the BNP, along with all pro-democracy political parties and democracy-loving people.
He said in 2024, during the “historic student–people uprising, more than 1,400 people were killed”, and at least 300 people were injured.
“From the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh to today, I pray for the forgiveness” of all those who died in the fight for democracy and human rights.
“Keeping this realisation and reality in mind”, the BNP announced its election manifesto with the goal of ensuring political and economic empowerment of citizens.
“We have designed our plans sector by sector and profession by profession to build a self-reliant Bangladesh. These plans have been finalised with the objective of restoring the social, economic, and political rights of the present generation and establishing a safe and humane Bangladesh for future generations,” the BNP chairman said.
He said one of BNP’s cornerstones was to create 10 million jobs through a phased approach with a strategy focusing on revitalising “regional economies and attracting both domestic and foreign investment into industrial and trade sectors”.
He, however, did not elaborate on the party’s foreign policy issues and relations with Bangladesh’s South Asian neighbours.
Rahman said his party has identified Information Technology (IT) as a “thrust sector,” with plans to generate 200,000 direct jobs and 800,000 indirect roles annually through outsourcing, artificial intelligence, and semiconductor industries.
BNP fielded only 10 female candidates in 300 constituencies in the polls, but in his over 30-minute speech, Rahman stressed the party’s desire for women’s empowerment.
“It is impossible for the country to progress by keeping more than half of its workforce—women—outside the mainstream of the state, politics, and economy,” he said.
Rahman said that if elected to power, the BNP would issue a Family Card for every family “for the first time in the country’s history”. The card will be issued in the name of the female head of the family, he added.
Rahman’s address largely focused on issues of unemployment.
He said the BNP, if voted to power, would provide a special financial allowance for educated unemployed youth for six months to a year, or until they secure employment, to address the immediate employment crisis.
Rahman said the party also intended to transform the country’s human resources by making technical and vocational education compulsory at the high school level and introducing a third language to the curriculum to enhance global competitiveness.
“Among all BNP plans, ensuring employment and decent working conditions at home and abroad for the unemployed youth and women is our first and foremost priority,” he said.
He promised to “depoliticise the administration”, ensuring that appointments and promotions were based strictly on merit.
Election campaign entered its final day on Monday ahead of the polls, in a transformed political landscape with the now-disbanded Awami League absent and the BNP facing its longtime ally, Jamaat-e-Islami.
Analysts expect a tough contest between the two former allies, amid uncertainty over how a large bloc of voters who traditionally support the Awami League will decide.
Many voters are also uncertain, with a parallel referendum seeking them to cast “Yes” ot “No” on an 84-point constitutional and governance reform package floated by Muhammad Yunus’ interim government.
Observers said the election largely lost its usual enthusiasm with the exclusion of the Awami League, the oldest party born on the soil, which led the country’s 1971 Liberation War.
Hasina has been in exile in India since the ouster of her regime in the violent student-led street protest dubbed the July Uprising on August 5, 2024, with most of her senior colleagues in jail or fleeing the country.
But through social media, the disbanded party called its supporters to boycott the polls under the Yunus government, which disbanded the Awami League under an executive order while Hasina was sentenced to death. PTI AR GRS GRS GRS
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