Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday categorically declared that people will cast their votes freely in the next general elections and assured Bangladesh Nationalist Party that there was nothing to be worried.

‘I think they (BNP) are in anxiety as there will be a transparent election and they won’t be able to rig the vote to go to power,’ she said.

She also referred to 1.23 crore fake voters the past BNP government enlisted to go to power through rigging.

The prime minister said this while responding to a question at a press conference held at Bangladesh Permanent Missions in the United Nations.

Hasina said that the transparency in polls found during  the tenures of the  Awami League government did not exist in the past.

‘Who are those people who raise questions regarding elections. AL always fought to establish democracy in the country,’ she said.

She also said that AL never came to power through rigging votes.

‘AL always comes to power through the votes of the people,’ she added.

She wondered why the questions of the people who never came to power through popular votes should get so much importance.

‘People will cast their votes in the election freely. The 2009, 2014 and 2018 elections were held under such environment,’ she said.

Talking about the participation of BNP in the election, she said, BNP did not participate in the 2014 elections and that was their party decision.

‘They knew that they did not have any possibility to come to power through a fair election process. They are habituated to come to power through killings, coup and conspiracy. That is the reality,’ she said.

The prime minister made it clear that the AL government had ensured the people’s right to vote.

‘What can be done if anyone lose his/her eligibility to participate in the election…?’ she asked.

Hasina also claimed that the AL government had put the election process of the country on the right track after it was derailed during the military regimes and BNP-Jamaat tenures.

Regarding the electronic voting machine, she said that EVM is a modern system and used in many countries around the world.

‘We saw that elections where the EVMs were used got quicker election results and people could give their votes freely,’ she said.

She, however, said that it was true that there were some people against this EVM.