<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said BNP always looks for other force to assume power rather than going through the democratic process.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>“…whenever the election time arrives they (BNP) look for some other force who can put them in the power,” she said.</div><div><br></div><div>The prime minister said this while visiting British cross party parliamentary delegation led by Virendra Sharma called on her at her official residence Ganabhaban.</div><div><br></div><div>The other members of the delegation are: Paul Scully, Neil Coyle and Andrew Western.</div><div><br></div><div>PM’s speech writer M Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the call on.</div><div><br></div><div>Nazrul quoted Hasina as telling the delegation that whenever BNP finds no one to put them in power, they step back from participating in the election.</div><div><br></div><div>“BNP is a terrorist party. They always had come to power without a fair election. They always think that someone will put them in the power,” she said.</div><div><br></div><div>She said that not participating in the election was their choice.</div><div><br></div><div>She mentioned that BNP was founded inside cantonment by a military man and that person just polluted the election process and democratic system of the country.</div><div><br></div><div>She said that undemocratic forces ruled Bangladesh for long 29 years.</div><div><br></div><div>“At that time there was no democracy in the country. As a result, no development was done in the country,” she told the delegation.</div><div><br></div><div>The prime minister said that BNP does not have any leadership and they usually get dictation from London.</div><div><br></div><div>“As a result, after 2008 they did not participate in any election sincerely. They boycotted the election in 2014.</div><div><br></div><div>Though in 2018 BNP decided to participate in the election the party nominated multiple candidates in one seat.</div><div><br></div><div>“At last they withdrew their candidatures whenever they had felt that they will not be able to win in the election,” she said.</div><div><br></div><div>She also said that there was a free and fair election under the military backed caretaker government in 2018, reports UNB.</div><div><br></div><div>“There is no question about that election. In that election BNP-led 20-party alliance bagged 30 seats while AL won 233 seats. It proves that BNP does not have any base among the mass people,” she said.</div><div><br></div><div>She said that though BNP boycotted the election held on January 7 this year, people cast their votes with turnout reported at 41.8 percent.</div><div><br></div><div>“People rejected BNP’s appeal to reject vote,” she added.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas&nbsp;</div>