Shawdesh desk:

Ruling Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Monday said that Bangladesh AL presidium member and agriculture minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque’s remarks on releasing BNP leaders overnight on condition of joining general election was his personal comment and not linked to the party.

He made the comment at a briefing at the AL president Sheikh Hasina’s political office in the capital’s Dhanmondi, when a reporter drew the AL general secretary’s attention about the agriculture minister’s recent remark.

‘Awami League is not suffering from such political bankruptcy where the party have to be involved in such activities. Neither Awami League nor the government gave such proposal to the BNP [main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party],’ he claimed.

Asked whether the party would take organisational action against the agriculture minister, Quader said, ‘You cannot interfere in the party’s internal matter’.

AL presidium member and agriculture minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque has said that the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party did not accept the proposal of joining the election in exchange for all its detained leaders getting released overnight.

The senior AL leader, while giving an interview on the private television channel, Channel 24, said that a lot of things were tried to bring the BNP to the general election.

Quader, also the road, transport and bridges minister, informed to media that the party would declare election manifesto on December 27.

AL organising secretaries Sujit Roy Nandi, BM Mozammel Haque, Mirza Azam and office secretary Biplab Barua, among others, were present at the briefing.