BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday urged voters to 'save Islam and the country' by voting for BNP-led four-party alliance nominees in the December 29 parliamentary election. During her second round of electioneering in Sylhet, the former premier also alleged that a section of the media is misguiding the people by publishing 'false and fictitious information' about BNP and four-party nominees.
"Save the country and Islam by voting for BNP and its alliance, and don't cast your vote for those who defamed the religion," Khaleda Zia said at a large rally on Sylhet Government Alia Madrasa ground in the afternoon.
"You'll end up suffering if you vote for wrong persons. The country will be saved if you vote for BNP-led alliance. On the other hand, the country's independence and sovereignty will be jeopardised if you vote for those who want to sell the country away," said Khaleda. "Sensing huge support for BNP-led alliance a certain quarter is misguiding the people by supplying false and fictitious information to some newspapers," the BNP chief alleged.
Khaleda asked the people to be vigilant against such 'false and fabricated stories'.
Khaleda on December 12 kicked off her party-led electoral alliance's campaign by offering special prayers at three shrines in Sylhet. Yesterday she went to Sylhet again to campaign for four-party nominee M Saifur Rahman in Sylhet-1, who is also a senior leader of BNP.
The four-party chief said, "A conspiracy is on against Bangladesh to turn it into a fundamentalist country."
"If voted to power, we will establish special economic zones in Sylhet, so non-resident Bangladeshis may invest in the country easily, benefiting the country's economy," she pledged.
She also pledged that voting rights of expatriate Bangladeshi's will also be ensured if four-party is voted to power. Addressing voters, especially the young generation of voters, Khaleda said, "You must make the right choice in the upcoming election."
"The country's independence and sovereignty depends on your decision," she added. "You will have to decide whether to cast your vote for setting up a puppet government for serving certain quarters at home and abroad, who had been conspiring against Bangladesh," she warned the voters.
"We did not allow religious extrimism. BNP arrested militant leaders like Shaikh Abdur Rahman and others," she went on. "We are against terrorism. We, the BNP-led government, took stringent measures to root out terrorism from the society," she noted.
"A certain quarter is trying to brand Bangladesh as a failed state," she alleged again.