Information Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud on Monday said the election train will not wait for anyone and will be held on time.

He said this while replying to questions from journalists after addressing the first anniversary programme of the newly published Dainik Bangla newspaper at a hotel in Dhaka's Gulshan on Monday afternoon.

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Responding to BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud's remark that "even if the schedule is announced, elections cannot be held," the minister said, "It is not so easy. In fact, the BNP wants to sabotage the election system in the country. In 2014, they tried to do that but failed; this time, if they try, the people will suppress it. Most people in Bangladesh support the Awami League; those people will not sit. We in the Awami League will not sit either.

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"The election train will not stand for anyone," said Hasan, adding that "just as the train of the 2014 election did not stand for anyone, the BNP boarded the election train sitting on the foot in the 2018 election. We hope that this time they will sit well on the election train. And even if they don't, the election will be held on time."

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Referring to the BNP, the information minister said, "It does not matter what any of their leaders said. What matters is whether the people participated in the election or not. It will be an acceptable election only if the people participate in the election in a big way."

Dr Chowdhury Nafiz Arafat, publisher of Dainik Bangla; Chowdhury Zafarullah Sharafat, acting editor; and Sheikh Kabir Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Private Universities Association, were present on the occasion, among others.