‘I will wear bangles if Awami League wins next national polls’

In an attempt to ridicule the ruling party, veteran politician Abdul Kader Siddique has declared that if Awami League manages to win the next parliamentary election and return to power for third consecutive time, he will wear bangles admitting defeat. The president of Krishak Sramik Janata League (KSJL) issued the challenge while addressing a party rally at Kanaikhali, Natore on Thursday afternoon. “Awami League will not come back to power if an impartial election is ensured. But if they do, I will wear bangles on my hands,” he said. He claimed that BNP leaders and activists were now in hiding and surviving barely after the party lost power. “But Awami League men will not even be able to do that if they lose power.” Kader Siddique came down hard on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, saying the ruling party chief should not stay in power after being elected with only 13% votes. The next general polls would be held at the end of this year under an election-time government formed in line with the constitution, Hasina announced earlier this month in a national address. In 2018, the Awami League-led government entered the last year of its second consecutive five-year term in office. After losing the eighth parliamentary elections to BNP, five years later, Awami League had won the ninth national polls in 2009 bagging three-fourth of the seats in the parliament. With BNP and its allies boycotting of the 10th general election, Awami League came to power for the second consecutive term on January 5, 2014. Kader Siddique, who formed a new alliance called “Juktofront” [United Front] with three other minor political parties in December last year, on Thursday also alleged that the present leaders and activists of Awami League do not respect love Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman anymore. “They now only love power. Under Bangabandhu’s leadership, Awami League was like a family. But now only rivalry exists,” claimed the KSJL chief.