Citing various incidents, including the August 21 gruesome grenade attack, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said Khaleda Zia and her allies always tried to wipe out the name and sign of Awami League.

“I’m always Khaleda Zia’s target,” she said, adding that Khaleda Zia had commented that Sheikh Hasina would never be the opposition leader let alone the Prime Minister and then a bomb was planted in Kotalipara. 

Later, the PM said, Khaleda remarked that AL would never be able to come to power in 100 years and then the gruesome August 21 grenade attack was launched. “We should not forget the remarks,” the Prime Minister added.

Read: Govt conspiring to end Khaleda’s life: Fakhrul

When AL came in power, Hasina said, it did not resort to repressive acts against them. “I believe in democracy and the vote of people,” she said.    

Turning to the misrules unleashed by the BNP regime, the Prime Minister said some people are there in the country who do not think about the thousands of offences committed by some particular people as crimes. 

“They talk against corruption, but speak in favour of a person convicted on graft charges. They’re vocal against terrorism and militancy, but utter no single word against those who are involved in terrorism and militancy as well as convicted in the 10-truck arm-haul case,” Hasina said.

“We're noticing a strange situation. They find all faults in Awami League,” bemoaned the Prime Minister, 

The AL president asked her party’s every leader and activist to remind the intellectual people about the misdeeds of the BNP regime.  

“Still, some of our people staying abroad have been carrying out propaganda against our works, no matter how good they are. So, every leader and activist of AL should remind people about their misdeeds so that our intellectual persons can acquire some knowledge and know about the real situation,” she said. 

Read:Done enough for Khaleda Zia, says Hasina

Hasina said some of them now sit in meetings to find out how Awami League could be ousted from power. “What’s the fault of Awami League? Is it AL’s fault to develop the country?” she said.

Pointing to the recent communal attacks, the PM said they tried to create instability in the country, but the government has been able to control it by taking timely steps. Despite being a Muslim, the offender defamed the holy Quran by keeping it in a temple, she mentioned. 

The identity of those who were behind these were also dug out through investigations, Hasina said, adding that she would not describe the details as it is a sub-judice matter. Why would people vote for BNP when its leader is a convicted fugitive, she questioned. 

“Why does the BNP participate in the election today? Who will vote for them? Where is their party and their leader? When their leader became disqualified after being convicted due to the embezzlement of orphans’ money, they made a person their leader who’s also a convicted fugitive. When a convicted fugitive is the leader of a party, how can it participate in elections and why would people vote for them?” she said.

Hasina said people vote for a party with a hope that it would come to power and serve them. “But Tarique Zia leads a lavish life abroad. One can ask him what his sources of income are!”