BNP says election manifesto ‘almost ready’, announcement likely Friday

Spokesperson Mahdi expresses concerns over allowing BNCC cadets to perform election duties

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has said its election manifesto is close to completion and may be unveiled on Friday, subject to final approval.

Speaking at the party’s Gulshan office on Tuesday, Mahdi Amin, spokesperson for the BNP’s electioneering committee, said preparations were “mostly complete” and awaiting clearance from the top leadership.

He also accused political rivals of spreading misinformation targeting party chief Tarique Rahman.

Mahdi said at least 29 “false and misleading” claims about Tarique had circulated over the past week, citing reports from independent fact-checking platforms.

He claimed that such tactics reflected the growing isolation of the BNP’s rivals amid what he described as increasing public support for the party.

“Unable to compete through healthy political competition, they have chosen personal attacks and disinformation,” Mahdi said.

Beyond campaign rhetoric, Mahdi voiced concern over electoral administration, particularly the proposed deployment of Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC) cadets for election duties.

“Many BNCC cadets are students of colleges and universities and may be affiliated with political parties or ideologies. Their involvement in election activities could hinder a free, fair and neutral election,” he said.

Mahdi also expressed concern over the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to allow more than 55,000 local observers from 81 organisations to monitor voting.

“More than 34,000 observers are coming from just 16 organisations. Some of these organisations have leaders affiliated with a particular political party, which is undesirable. We fear some of them could be misused on election day,” he added.

To ensure a level playing field, the BNP called on the EC to take two steps.

Mahdi said the full list of observers should be vetted by government agencies to exclude individuals linked to political parties or candidates, and the number of observers from less-experienced organisations should be reduced.

He also urged the EC to issue clear instructions limiting the number of local observers entering a polling centre to no more than two at a time.