<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday accused the Awami League of rigging votes in Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections and branded the ruling party as a 'pathological thief'.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>He said, “Their (AL’s) only aim is to indulge in theft. We usually call them vote thieves. They rig votes in the national elections and even in Union Parishad polls. “Now they rigged votes in the Supreme Court and Dhaka Bars. In fact, they are pathological thieves,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Speaking at a discussion programme, the BNP leader also said Awami League does nothing, but steal.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>“They make their living by stealing and it is their profession and addiction…They also depleted the country’s resources through theft.”</div><div><br></div><div>He also alleged that the ruling party destroyed the country's power sector by indulging in widespread stealing.</div><div><br></div><div>Regarding the SCBA polls, Fakhrul said there was a ruckus in the Supreme Court after false and stamped ballot papers were found there on Tuesday night, the night before the election.&nbsp; “They (pro-AL lawyers) assaulted our seven-time elected Supreme Court Bar Secretary (Mahbubuddin Khokon) and wounded him. “</div><div><br></div><div>He also said a case was filed against 1,000 pro-BNP lawyers, including Khokon, over the incident.</div><div><br></div><div>“What country do we live in now? Where have we brought this country to?&nbsp; Awami League has to answer the people for this. They have taken this country to extreme destruction.&nbsp; They have destroyed all our culture, traditions and democratic values.&nbsp; They have destroyed all our democratic institutions…” the BNP leader bemoaned.</div><div><br></div><div>The two-day voting in SCBA elections started around 10 am on Wednesday, but it was suspended immediately when some pro-BNP lawyers staged demonstrations demanding the formation of an election conducting committee led by a neutral person.</div><div><br></div><div>The discussion programme was arranged at the Jatiya Press Club marking the launching of the book titled “Amar Rajnitir Rojnamcha” written by BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain. According to UNB reports&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>