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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accused Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain and Jukto Front chief AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury of plotting the government's ouster with the BNP and other ‘corrupt’ people on board.
“They speak nothing but hyperbole. Will they be able to bring development in the country? They’ll just loot everything,” she said at a public reception organised by the United States branch of the Awami League at New York on Sunday (local time), reports bdnews24.
With the election looming, the Jukto Front, led by Dr Badruddoza Chowdhury, and the Jatiya Oikya Prokriya, led by Dr Kamal, held a rally at Mahanagar Natyamancha on Saturday.
BNP leaders also joined the rally as they urged everyone to unite against the Awami League government and also demanded the election to be held under a non-partisan government.
The alliance had given an ultimatum to the government during the rally, to have a dialogue with the political parties and form an election-time impartial government by September 30.
Former adviser to the caretaker government Barrister Mainul Hosein, BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed joined Dr Kamal on stage during the rally.
“What is our fault exactly? What have we done to be ousted? What haven’t we done for the country?” Hasina asked at the reception at Hotel Hilton in New York.
She mentioned the graft allegations against the BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and her sons and expressed her frustration over the ‘Jukto Front’ and ‘Jatiya Oikya Prokriya.’
“All of them are the same. Some of them commit usury, others take bribes; if one of them is a money-launderer, while another is a murderer. And now all of them have come under a common platform,” she said.
“They will fight corruption while having corrupt people on their side! Will Kamal Hossain, B Chowdhury, Manna be able to fight?”
The prime minister mentioned Mainul Hosein as a convict in a case of land grabbing and reminded the audience of Moudud Ahmed grabbing a dead person’s assets with ‘fake documents.’
Hasina also criticised former managing director of Grameen Bank Muhammed Yunus for not resigning from the MD position after receiving the Nobel Prize.
She urged the people to vote for the Awami League in the upcoming election. “Vote for the Awami Leaugue if you want the development of the country,” she said.
A direct flight from Dhaka to New York will soon be initiated, the prime minister said in the event.