Give befitting reply through votes to election foiling attempt by international conspirators: PM Hasina

If necessary, he would be brought from there to the country and given punishment, BSS quoted Hasina as saying.The AL chief said her party wants peace to continue and the countrys development be strengthened while the BNP-Jamaat clique tried time and again to disrupt it.The prime minister also expressed confidence that Bangladesh will start its journey as a developing nation by 2026.And only the Awami League can take the country towards prosperity.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said she was confident that the people of Bangladesh would give a befitting reply to attempts by international conspirators to dislodge her from power in the January 7 elections.

Stating that she wants the 12th parliamentary election to be held peacefully, Hasina, also the president of the ruling Awami Party said, "We will take part in the January 7 election with our party's electoral symbol Boat. Go early to the polling centres to cast a vote (for boat) to show the world that we can hold the election in a free, fair and neutral manner." "Various conspiracies are being hatched to foil the polls. Many are also involved internationally. They work to bring a third party to power in Bangladesh---we will give a befitting reply to the conspiracies through the January 7 election," Hasina said while addressing an election rally at Tungipara, about 170 km southwest of Dhaka.

"What can the third party do? They can't do any development in the country. You had seen what they did in 2007," Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the country's national news agency, quoted Hasina as saying. Amid increasing violence, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has announced that it would boycott the election. BNP had boycotted the 2014 election too but took part in the 2018 polls.

Earlier in the year, the US and other major Western countries had called for dialogue between the ruling Awami League and the opposition to ensure an inclusive and credible election, which however, saw no headway visibly due to reluctance by both sides.

On Saturday, the BSS reported that Hasina was accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana to the rally grounds at Tungipara, where she waved the national flag to a roaring response from her supporters who had gathered to listen to her.

Hasina, 76, is the longest serving prime minister of Bangladesh with first term from 1996 to 2001, and three consecutive terms from 2009 to 2014, 2014 to 2019 and 2019 till date.

Terming the opposition BNP as "a terrorist party" and the Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat) as "an organisation of war criminals," prime minister Hasina said they have ''no capability to take the country forward.'' Hasina also came down heavily on the alleged criminal acts by the BNP-Jamaat men, likening it to killings of children and women in Gaza's hospitals, and said that if her party is voted back to power, it will ensure that such criminality will end.

This was in reference to the alleged atrocities committed by party men belonging to BNP, whose acting chairman Tarique Rahman, a businessman turned politician, is in exile in the UK.

"If Allah wants and we can come (to power) by winning the next election, it won't be allowed that he (Tarique) will give order to harm and kill the people of our country, staying in London. If necessary, he would be brought from there (to the country) and given punishment," BSS quoted Hasina as saying.

The AL chief said her party wants peace to continue and the country's development be strengthened while the BNP-Jamaat clique tried time and again to disrupt it.

The prime minister also expressed confidence that Bangladesh will start its journey as a developing nation by 2026.

"And only the Awami League can take the country towards prosperity. Bangladesh has got the status of a developing country due to the current government's efforts made in the last 15 years, which is now working to transform it into a developed, prosperous and Smart Bangladesh by 2041," Hasina said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)