Tarique Rahman urges vigilance against vote-rigging plot

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has urged people to remain alert against the conspiracy to rig votes.

“A conspiracy to rig votes is underway and urged people to remain alert against it. Like a party that has fled the country, a group within Bangladesh has also begun conspiring to manipulate the electoral process,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at an election rally at the Alia Madrasa ground in Sylhet on Thursday (22 January).

Tarique Rahman said the nation had witnessed ballot snatching, dummy candidates and overnight elections over the past 16 years. “During this period, people were deprived of their political and voting rights,” he said, adding that many lives had been lost in the struggle to restore political freedom and freedom of expression.

He alleged that the country had effectively been mortgaged to foreign interests over the past 16 years. “That is why we say—neither Delhi nor Pindi, nor any other country. Bangladesh must come first,” he said.

The BNP chief further claimed that those who stripped people of free speech and voting rights were also responsible for widespread killings, including the disappearance and death of BNP leader Ilias Ali and many others.