Quader: BNP has blocked the road to dialogue

The transport minister was speaking to reporters at his office on Thursday after a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Harsha Vardhan Shringla. “First they refused to let the prime minister in when she went to console the BNP leader after her son's death,” he said, when asked whether the ruling Awami League would engage with their rival party ahead of the national polls. “Then they refused the president's invitation to host a dialogue. So they themselves have blocked all the roads to dialogue,” Quader added. In his first press meet after being elected general secretary, Quader had told the media his top priority was to prepare Awami League and consolidate its ranks for the next general elections. He said on Thursday that he would be on the lookout for “fairweather birds,” people who were reaping the benefits of the party's success. Such people were out to corner the party members who weathered the hard times with Awami League, he believed. “If these fairweather birds make their way into the party's higher ranks it will be destructive for us,” the general secretary said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to visit India in December, the minister said. “We are hoping that during this visit there will be concrete progress on the Teesta deal and issues surrounding other transboundary rivers,” he said. The Indian high commissioner congratulated Quader on his election as the Awami League general secretary.