Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked BNP chief Khaleda Zia to come and visit the Padma Bridge, mentioning the former prime minister’s remark that constructing the bridge was not possible.
She was addressing a massive rally on the occasion of the inauguration of the Padma Bridge in Kathalbari under Shibchar upazila of Madaripur on Saturday.
“I laid the foundation stone of the Padma Bridge in 2001 but Khaleda Zia stopped it (construction),” Sheikh Hasina said, adding that she began the construction work again when she came to power.
“Khaleda Zia said the Padma Bridge could not be built. Today I want to ask her to come and see if the Padma Bridge has been built or not,” the prime minister added.
Addressing the whole country, she said: “No one has to suffer or lose their children while crossing the Padma Bridge.”
The government would build a special economic zone revolving around the bridge, she said, adding: “We will change the destiny of the people of at least 21 districts with this bridge.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Padma Bridge with great fanfare at noon on Saturday.
The inauguration of the 6.15-kilometre bridge took place at its Mawa point in Munshiganj.
Earlier, the prime minister joined and addressed a mammoth public rally in Kathalbari where the organizers had set up a huge stage. The authorities, as part of the preparation to welcome her, had set up hundreds of archways and decorated roads leading up to Zajira from Kathalbari with colourful posters.
