Information Minister and joint general secretary of Awami League Dr Hasan Mahmud has urged the people to be vigilant to stop the conspiracy of BNP-Jamaat and other anti-national elements during the inauguration of Padma Bridge. At the same time, he said, most of the councilors who won the Comilla City Corporation elections were expected to have a bigger margin of victory in the Awami League, mayoral post.
He was responding to a question from reporters when he arrived at the district circuit house in Gaibandha on Friday afternoon to attend a conference of the Awami League at Gaibandha's Saghata upazila.
Replying to a question on the Padma Bridge, the Information and Broadcasting Minister said, "The Padma Bridge is not just a bridge, it is a symbol of ability and dignity of our country and the daughter of Bangabandhu. Although people across the country were happy because of the bridge, some talk show experts of Jamaat-BNP and Midnight TV could not be happy. That is why BNP-Jamaat and anti-national forces are trying to create chaos ahead of the inauguration of the bridge. We think that fires have taken place in different places including trains as a part of it. I urge the people to be vigilant.”
Asked about the election, the Information Minister said, "Comilla City Corporation has had an excellent election with the spontaneous participation of candidates and voters in a very festive atmosphere. The losing candidates have also said so and there was no chaos during the election. And we hoped our candidate would win by a wide margin.”
Dr Hassan said, "Because, our candidates have been elected in 20 out of 28 posts of councilors there. The Awami League-backed candidates have won 6 of the 9 posts of women councilors. Where the Awami League candidate for the post of councilor was "triumphant, our candidate for the post of mayor was supposed to get many more votes."
Replying to a question on the proposed budget, the minister said, "In the last 13 and a half years, the size of the budget has increased six to seven times, poverty has come down from 41 percent to 20 percent, extreme poverty has come down to 10 percent. But it is not clear why some intellectuals, including CPD and TIB, who can never appreciate the budget, lose their minds about the budget.”
Later, the Information and Broadcasting Minister addressed the conference of Saghata Upazila Awami League as a special guest. Presided over by Upazila Awami League President Mohammad Waresh Ali Pradhan and conducted by General Secretary SM Samshi, Awami League presidium member Shajahan Khan MP was the chief guest, Gaibandha District Awami League Vice President Farhad Abdullah Harun Bablu was the inaugural speaker and General Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique was the keynote speaker.
Among the Awami League leaders as special guests were Organizing Secretary Sakhawat Hossain Shafiq, Whip of Jatiya Sangsad Mahbub Ara Begum Gini MP and Central Member Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia and Ed Safura Begum Rumi.
