BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman is set to announce the party’s election manifesto for the 13th parliamentary election on Friday.
BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan said the manifesto will be unveiled at 3:30pm at Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.
He said party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will preside over the programme while Nazrul Islam Khan, a standing committee member and chairman of the party’s central election steering committee, will conduct the programme.
Diplomats and intellectuals and noted citizens and prominent figures from various professional groups have been invited to the programme.
Tarique Rahman is leading the BNP in this parliamentary election, making it the first time he will formally present the party’s election manifesto.
In the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth parliamentary elections, the party was led by his mother and then BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, who announced the manifestos on those occasions.
Although the BNP-led Jatiya Oikya Front took part in the 11th parliamentary election in 2018, Khaleda Zia was in jail at the time, and the manifesto was announced on December 18 that year by Mirza Fakhrul at Lakeshore Hotel in Gulshan.
The BNP boycotted the 10th and 12th parliamentary elections held under Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Speaking about the upcoming manifesto, Mahdi Amin, spokesperson of the BNP’s central election steering committee, said the party worked with people from all walks of life under the guidance of Tarique Rahman.
He said the manifesto has been prepared based on the party’s 31-point outline and feedback collected from grassroots levels across divisions, districts, upazilas and wards, aiming to address people’s problems and improve their lives.
Mahdi said the document reflects both the vision of the party’s top leadership and the needs of ordinary citizens, focusing on realistic and sustainable planning.
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He also said Tarique Rahman’s plans centre on people’s empowerment, freedom, self-reliance, security and inclusive development, with the goal of building a Bangladesh where citizens enjoy ownership of the state and better living conditions for their families.
Party sources said the manifesto gives priority to young people, females, farmers and workers, with corruption eradication, establishment of good governance, creation of new jobs and economic liberation of people set as the party’s main goals.
Special programmes have also been included to attract new voters.
According to party insiders, BNP’s core promises will centre on eight major areas, including family cards, farmer cards, social security, job creation, youth and women’s empowerment, demand-based education, improved healthcare and family-friendly policies. These programmes, already shared with the public, will receive the highest priority in the manifesto.
The manifesto will also include pledges to waive agricultural loans of up to Tk 10,000 including interest, construct the Padma Barrage in response to India’s Farakka Barrage, implement the Teesta mega plan and address region-specific problems across the country.
Restoration of democratic governance, rebuilding the electoral system, judicial independence, administrative decentralisation, protection of human rights and strengthening anti-corruption institutions have been included as central themes.
Party policymakers said BNP’s commitment is to return state ownership to the people and establish an administration free from partisan influence.