BNP on Sunday alleged that the government has passed a bill in parliament to keep the 'quick rental' power plants for five more years just to prolong the system of ‘plundering’ public money.

“Our standing committee meeting thinks that the rented power plants were set up only for plundering by a ruling Awami quarter,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, he also the government created a scope for indulging in arbitrary corruption by indemnifying all the activities regarding the quick rental power plants through passing a law.

As a result, the BNP leader said, a quarter belonging to Awami League has pocketed a large part of taxpayers’ money even without producing power while the government increased the power tariff several times every year.

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"The system of plundering has been prolonged by extending the term of the special law to run rented power plants for another five years. The meeting of our standing committee strongly protested and condemned the passage of the bill in parliament,” he said.

Fakhrul said the BNP standing committee demanded the government immediately repeal the bill.

BNP arranged the press conference to inform the media about the decisions of the party standing committee meeting held on Saturday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the “Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) (Amendment) Act, 2010” bill was placed in parliament, aiming to boost power supply to the consumers.

Since the tenure of the existing law, enacted in 2010, is going to expire in 2021, the bill was passed to run the rented power plants for another five years till 2026.

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Fakhrul protested Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent comments on BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and his grave, saying he presented ‘false’ information in parliament to mislead people.

“The meeting of the standing committee thinks that people are being deceived by distorting history by the government. Such perverted propaganda against Ziaur Rahman is nothing but a conspiracy against the country’s independence and sovereignty,” he said.