Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said the BNP is looking for excuses not to participate in the upcoming general election.
Speaking at an Eid-ul-Fitr gift distribution ceremony at the Bausa High School premises in the Nakla upazila of Sherpur on Saturday, she said the election will be held with the participation of various political parties, and it matters little whether a particular party joins or not because of their internal issues.
Matia also said no mother has lost a child without a valid cause under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure, unlike in Khaleda Zia's.
She claimed that during BNP's rule, youths were made to involve themselves in various crimes, which is why Hasina took up the challenge to save them from the clutches of drugs.
"Anyone involved in drugs, regardless of power or position, will not be spared," she warned, adding that if they turn out to be members of Awami League, they would be expelled from the party and no lobbying would be entertained.
Deputy commissioner of the district Dr Mollik Anwar Hossain, superintendent of police Kazi Ashraful Azim, and Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rajib Kumar Sarker were, among others, present at the occasion.
