Dhaka to get new look during Awami League's National Council

The Awami League plans to 'spectacularly' deck out the key thoroughfares of capital Dhaka during its National Council alongside its party office and the venue - Suhrawardy Udyan.

The make-over will be on the street from the airport to the venue; large festoons with photos of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy will be hung on the main streets.

There will be reception centres at the accesses to Dhaka for the council delegates. Colourful objects like lanterns and balloons will hang from lampposts.

The Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-Ul Alam Hanif has said Dhaka will get a new look during the Oct 22-23 National Council.

"The Awami League's National Council is very important because it augurs well for the nation," he told bdnews24.com on Friday.

This is the 20th National Council of one of the oldest political parties of Bangladesh.

A base camp of the council preparation sub-committee has been set up at Suhrawardy Udyan.

The party headquarters at Bangabandhu Avenue, the Awami League chief's political office in Dhanmondi, and the adjacent streets have already been decorated with festoons and lanterns, and illuminated.

The slogan of this year's council is "Moving ahead relentlessly on the development highway. It's the time for Bangladesh to hold its head high".

The party's Publicity and Publication Secretary Hasan Mahmud says strategies to retain power will be discussed in the council.

"We want to win people's hearts with new leadership to maintain continuity in power," he said.

Besides 6,570 councillors, leaders of foreign political parties are expected to join the council.

Syed Ashraful Islam got the post of general secretary for a second consecutive term in the last council four years ago.

The Awami League came into being at Rose Garden in Old Dhaka's KM Das Lane on June 23 1949 and led the struggle for independence from Pakistan.