Power deal with Adani Group unnecessary: Fakhrul

Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul  Islam Alamgir on Tuesday termed unnecessary and uneven the government’s power deal with the Indian Adani Group, and said that Bangladesh would be unable to reap benefits from the project.

‘The government has signed a power contract with India’s Adani Group.  Everyone at home and abroad is saying that this is an unnecessary and unfair deal,’ he said.

If the deal is not revoked, the BNP leader said that Bangladesh would have to pay money, but it won’t get much benefit.

‘Through these kinds of deals and projects, they (AL leaders) are plundering huge public money and amassing wealth abroad,’ he observed.

Fakhrul made the remarks while talking to reporters after placing a wreath at BNP founder Ziaur Rahman’s grave together with the leaders of Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal’s newly announced full-fledged committee.

He said that the Awami League government had no responsibility towards the people since it had usurped power using the state machinery.

‘The most serious matter is that there is no parliament to hold the government accountable.  There is a parliament that is not elected by people.’

The BNP leader alleged that the government had been looting money in a planned way by taking various unnecessary projects one after another and building assets in different countries by siphoning off ill-gotten money abroad since it came to power 14 years.

He also said that the government had been in a picnic mood while the country’s people had been going through serious ordeals due to unusual price hikes in daily essentials.

‘Since the government has no responsibility towards the people, they’re indulging in festivity. They’re today (Tuesday) holding a festival in President Abdul Hamid’s area,’ Fakhrul observed.

The BNP leader said that the government did not want to admit that there was an economic crisis and inflation had reached an extreme level in the country.  ‘The common people of the country are now unable to buy rice.’

Amid such a situation, he said that the government’s plan to stop the operation of OMS is a terrible move. ‘They’ll sell rice and essentials through cards which can create another scope for them (AL leaders) to indulge in corruption.’

Fakhrul said that there was no alternative to continuing the ongoing movement to overcome the current situation of the country and the government’s misrule.  ‘We have started the movement.  In this movement, 17 of our leaders and workers were killed on the streets. We’ll surely establish a government of people by defeating the current fascist regime.’

On February 22, BNP announced a 251-member full-fledged committee of the Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, the youth front of the party, with Sultan Salahuddin Tuku as the president and Abdul Monayem Munna as the general secretary.

-NEW AGE