BNP senior leader Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan on Wednesday warned that Awami League will no longer be able to cling to power by holding a deceptive election.

Talking to reporters while distributing leaflets in front of the Jatiya Press Club, he also alleged that the government has annihilated democracy in Bangladesh with a crackdown on the BNP’s peaceful rally on October 28.

“People ask me what will we do after the January 7 election? I would like to clearly say this government needs to understand that 2024 and 2014 are not the same. It won’t happen this time that they (govt) will confirm the power for 5 years again by holding a fake and depictive election,” the BNP leader said.

Stating that the people of Bangladesh sacrificed their blood for independence and democracy, he said the BNP would bring back democracy for the country’s 18 crore people by facing bullets and sound grenades on the streets.’

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Dr Moyeen, a BNP standing committee member, said the lopsided election has already been held on the day the candidates filed nomination papers.  “The government has already decided who will be MPs in which seats.”

He said Awami League is moving ahead with a plan to form a one-party parliament and government with the fake results of a fake election. "They’re staging a farce and a drama in the name of election…all the famous media outside the country are saying in one word that the election being held in Bangladesh is nothing but a farce as the current regime wants to prolong its power with it.”

The BNP leader said their party wants to see the change of power through a free and fair election. “BNP does not believe in the politics of violence using sticks and oars. “We never believe in the politics of conflict and the politics of weapons. We want the people of Bangladesh to bring change in this country through a peaceful systematic democratic movement, to restore democracy.”

 Dr Moyeen along with the leaders and workers of Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal distributed leaflets among the pedestrians to drum up public support in favour of BNP’s call for boycotting the January-7 election.

Read: Election 2024: Armed forces deployed across the country 

 Meanwhile, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also distributed leaflets at AGB Colony Bazar in the capital’s Motijheel area in the morning.

Talking to reporters there, Rizvi said Awami League is going to hold a unilateral election by force on January 7 to hang onto power.

“I would like to call upon the people to say no to this one-sided dummy election. “No one will go to the polling stations on January 7. We express our hatred towards them (AL) for taking away our right to vote," he said.

Rizvi said Sheikh Hasina's illegal government is holding the election by resorting to deception to stay in power for indulging in more plundering and corruption.

Jubo Dal leader Asifur Rahman Biplob and the leaders and workers of BNP and its different associate bodies also distributed leaflets in different parts of the capital.