BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that the upcoming national election will not be like those held under the Awami League, stressing that this time the polls will be neutral — and to win, BNP must earn the love and trust of the people.

He made the remarks on Thursday while inaugurating the fifth day of BNP’s “Vision for Nation-Building” programme at the Krishibid Institution auditorium in the capital’s Khamarbari area.

Fakhrul said the 13th parliamentary election presents BNP with an opportunity to form a truly representative parliament. Addressing party leaders and activists, he said, “This is the toughest battle — a fight to empower the forces that want to move the country forward, against those trying to pull it backward.”

He added that a newly formed political alliance has attempted to portray BNP as anti-reform, but historically all meaningful reforms in the country have come under BNP’s leadership. “Whatever good has been achieved in Bangladesh has been achieved through BNP,” he claimed.