BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman addressed an election rally on Monday at Pir Jangi Mazar Road in Dhaka-8 constituency, emphasizing that only local people can effectively solve local problems. He said the upcoming election is not merely about a change of power but about rebuilding the nation’s future. Rahman formally handed over the party’s symbol to Mirza Abbas, the BNP candidate for Dhaka-8, urging voters to elect him on the 12th and promising continued support from the next day.

He announced several pledges, including a Family Card program to provide monthly government assistance to housewives and working women, creation of ten million jobs within five years, and establishment of vocational, technological, and IT training institutes in every district. Rahman also promised to recruit 100,000 health workers to deliver primary healthcare to mothers, children, and women, and to introduce allowances for religious leaders of all faiths. He reaffirmed a zero-tolerance stance on corruption and said a future BNP government would be a people’s government.

Rahman concluded by calling the BNP’s symbol, the paddy sheaf, a representation of Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty, urging citizens to vote for national reconstruction.