Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said that the whole country wanted to name the Padma Bridge after ruling party President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, because it came true only because of her initiative and courage.
Highlighting Sheikh Hasina’s hard work to build the country, Quader said: "The Padma Bridge would still have remained a far-fetched dream due to a lack of funds if Sheikh Hasina had not intervened.”
He was talking to reporters following a meeting on the occasion of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina's Homecoming Day.
Quader, who is also road transport and bridges minister, said that Sheikh Hasina would declare the bridge’s inauguration date.
“I have noticed several people talking about the bridge’s possible inauguration dates. Don’t be so impatient. Our prime minister will announce the final date,” he told reporters at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital.
However, Quader recently said that the bridge would be inaugurated in June and preparations were going on for its opening.
His announcement came a month after the premier told parliament that the bridge would open to traffic by the end of the year.
On the other hand, train services from Dhaka to Bhanga through the Padma Bridge would be inaugurated in June next year, Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said on May 15.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, who also attended the same event at the BICC, said that Bangladesh had turned into a middle-income country due to the pragmatic steps taken by the premier and the “country has now become a food surplus country from a food deficit one”.
He added that the BNP-Jamaat, their collaborators and some so-called intellectuals did not like the development and progress of the country.
Criticizing the comments of BNP leaders on the Padma Bridge, Hasan said that work on the bridge had been completed and the nation was eagerly awaiting its inauguration by the prime minister.
"Now we are thinking whether the BNP leaders will use the Padma Bridge or cross the river by 'Boat' (election symbol) of the Awami League.
“They can use the bridge by offering apologies to the people of the country. And we want you to use the Padma Bridge," he added.
Hasan, who is also the Awami League joint general secretary, said that the homecoming of Sheikh Hasina on May 17, 1981 was not only the return of Bangabandhu's daughter, but also the return of democracy and the spirit of the Liberation War.
"Bangladesh has been transformed under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The fate of every citizen has changed in the last 13 years. But a vested group is hatching conspiracy and the BNP-Jamaat is trying to create anarchy as they cannot tolerate this unprecedented development and progress.
"We are not in the field now. But we will be in the field and resist them if any anarchic situation is created," the minister said.
Awami League Presidium Member Begum Matia Chowdhury chaired the discussion, addressed by central leaders and eminent intellectuals.
