BNP: Unclear about gains from Modi government

Desk(hello-today.com): The BNP
leaders are somewhat happy with
the Indian election results since
the “pro-Awami League” Congress
lost office, but they are still
sceptical about the benefits they
might get from the Narendra
Modi-led new government.
However, even before
announcement of the full results,
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia
greeted Modi, the would-be prime
minister of India, on Friday
morning for his party’s landslide
victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
The party leaders believe that
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has
a good personal relation with
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and
outgoing President Pranab
Mukherjee, and that the Hasina-
led government held the January 5
election with the blanket support
of the Congress.
Hasina does not have similar kind
of warm relation with the BJP
leaders, the BNP leaders observe.
They think with Modi’s triumph,
now the relation with India would
be state-to-state and people-to-
people, not with the Awami
League only.
BNP’s acting secretary general
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said:
“We hope that the longstanding
disputes like border killing, Teesta
water treaty and other issues will
be settled [with the new
government].”
Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, vice-
chairman of the party, echoed
Fakhrul saying that the Indo-
Bangla tie would reach a new
height in the coming days.
Osman Farruk, an adviser to the
BNP Chairperson, said: “The way
the Congress government took
position over the January 5
election, it seemed that the people
of Bangladesh are the counterpart
of Indian government. Apart from
bilateral issues, we believe that
the new government will re-
evaluate the Congress
government’s blind support to the
Awami League government over
the controversial election.”
In response to a question whether
the new Indian government would
want to see early election in
Bangladesh as demanded by many
Western countries, Shamser said it
was difficult to predict at this
moment.
“But India has a history of
democracy, and BJP has come to
power through a democratic
election. Naturally Indian
government would want to see a
democratic process in
Bangladesh,” Shamser told a
programme in the city organised
by BBC Bangla Service

Posted via Blogaway