Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday asked Awami League leaders and activists to get ready for the next general election and make the best use of the remaining time of the AL government’s tenure.

‘We have two years and two months [of our tenure] in hand, the election process will start three months prior to that… we don't have plenty of time. So, I request you to utilise the time properly apart from making the organisation stronger,’ she said.

Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League chief, said this when top party leaders from different levels of the country came to her official residence Ganabhaban to greet her for being reelected as the party president.

She asked the party leaders and activists to spread the development activities taken by the AL government in recent years for the welfare of people. ‘We have to inform the common people what we’ve done for them; we’ve to tell them if you cast your votes again for AL, you’ll get even more.’

The Prime Minister went on saying, ‘If you don’t tell these, how people will know, you’ve to start telling these right now well before the election schedule is announced…you’ll have to put these information into people’s hearts,’ she said.

Hasina mentioned that AL always proves it does whatever it says. ‘We’ve proved this several times and we’ll have to do the same again.’

Stressing that the party should be stronger, the Prime Minister said Awami League leaders and activists have to stand beside people. ‘The only aim of AL is to work for the welfare of people so that their fate can be changed.’

Hasina vowed afresh to free Bangladesh from poverty and urged the AL leaders and activists to prepare a list of ultra-poor people who do not have homes and living in great distress. ‘If AL is voted to power again, people will have a better descent life free from poverty.’

Without taking the name of anyone, she mentioned some people sucked the blood of the poor in the name of sending poverty to the museum.

Listing various development activities of her government in agriculture, food security, healthcare, education, digitisation and other socioeconomic sectors, the Prime Minister asked the party leaders and activists to spread these messages of development among people.

Talking about terrorism and militancy, she said BNP-Jamaat nurtured these social menaces in the country. ‘These are the great problems not only in Bangladesh but also in the whole world….we’ll have to solve this problem in our country; we must not be dependent on others.’

She also asked the AL followers to remain alert in this regard and involve imams and religious leaders to convey the message that Islam is the religion of peace. ‘Islam is not a religion of terrorism.’