Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said BNP has started playing a ‘blame game’ after having failed to get response from people in the city corporation elections.

‘Its (BNP’s) tricks have got exposed,’ she said pointing at the recent crude bomb explosion in an election rally of the BNP mayoral candidate in Rajshahi City Corporation, reports the UNB.

Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League president, made the remarks while delivering her introductory speech at a meeting of her party’s Central Working Committee at her official residence Ganobhaban.

She said crude bombs went off in the BNP procession and the party blamed Awami League for it. ‘But later it was exposed that they themselves did it only for blaming Awami League.’ 

Her comments came after police arrested Rajshahi BNP General Secretary Matiur Rahman Montu over the bomb explosion at the election rally of BNP mayoral candidate Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul.

Montu was arrested on Saturday after police found the audio of a ‘telephone conversation’ over the incident.

Referring to the killing of people in arson attacks unleashed by BNP in 2013, 2014 and 2015, the Prime Minister said the party has a habit of hurling bombs and vandalising vehicles. ‘They’ll stage an incident and later blame Awami League. They’re expert in staging dramas ... they want to draw international attention through it,’ she said adding that no one can overtake BNP in this falsehood.

The AL President said BNP wanted to take this incident to the international level and it also got huge publicity in the global media. ‘There’s no doubt that various games will start when the national election is approaching fast,’ she said.

Hasina said she has already directed to make sure that no untoward incident takes place in the city corporation polls in Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barishal.

Alleging that BNP can kill people in cold blood, Hasina said they killed Shah AMS Kibria in Habiganj, Ahsanullah Master in Gazipur, Manjurul Imam in Khulna, journalists in Khulna, and carried out grenade attacks on Sylhet city mayor Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran in Sylhet. ‘If we see the history, we can see throwing bombs and grenades and killing people are the only works of BNP,’ she said.

About BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister said seasoned BNP lawyers failed to prove that Khaleda Zia did not commit any crime.

She said the BNP chief is leading a comfortable life in jail as she has been given a maid servant, special bedstead, mattress and air conditioner. ‘She gets whatever she wants. She remains in comfort and relax condition and many people meet her. But she falls sick when the date for appearing in court comes,’ she said.

Sheikh Hasina said her government has been able to make Bangladesh a dignified country in the international arena.

Noting that Bangladesh is marching forward, she said her government placed highest-ever national budget for this fiscal year.

The Awami League President said her government did much more than the commitments it made in the last election manifesto.

She asked her party’s senior leaders to prepare an election manifesto for the next election.

The Prime Minister also put emphasis on taking up massive programmes to celebrate the ‘Mujib Year’ during 2020-2021 marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu and golden jubilee year of the country’s independence.