The Awami League (AL) is ready to fight Sunday’s battle of ballots, which is going to be organised with the participation of all major political parties including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The polling will start at 8am and continue till 4pm without any break. The BNP had boycotted the last parliamentary election was held on January 5 in 2014, where AL got two-third majority with 153 lawmakers from the party being elected unopposed. In fact, the BNP had argued that the election would not be free and fair under the Sheikh Hasina administration.

But interestingly, the same political party is going to join the polls this time under the same administration. The candidates fighting the polls under the AL-led Grand Alliance are campaigning hard in their respective areas across the country. AL candidates are dominating the electoral campaign. They have been carrying out hectic campaigning from early morning to midnight.

The AL now apprehends that the BNP-Jamaat combine can create an anarchic situation across the country by resorting to violence just before the voting day.  Party insiders say BNP-Jamaat activists may hatch a conspiracy to foil the polls. All party leaders and workers  have been asked to remain alert against such conspiracies.

Speaking at a press conference, AL joint general secretary Abdur Rahman alleged that BNP-Jamaat men may resort to violence just before the December 30 polls in a bid to foil the election. “BNP-Jamaat men can create anarchy in the country on Friday or Saturday,” he said.

He was talking to reporters at AL president Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office yesterday.

“The conspiracies by the BNP-Jamaat combine are being revealed one after another. An audio clip of a telephonic conversation between Gano Forum leader Mostafa Mohsin Montu and Shawkat has gone viral on the social media, where BNP chairperson Khaleda’s son, Tarique Rahman, was plotting to kill Dr Kamal Hossain in a bid to foil the polls,” he said.

“So, we must stay alert about such conspiracies for the sake of holding Sunday’s polls in a free fair and peaceful manner,” he added. Talking to this correspondent, AL joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said their party leaders and workers should remain alert against violence and anarchy to be unleashed by BNP-Jamaat activists across the country ahead of the polls.

“The BNP has become crazy. It’s dreaming to take over the field just before the polls. But it will never happen. We’ll remain alert against all sorts of conspiracies woven by the BNP-Jamaat combine,” he added.

Meanwhile, the party has already formed a national election steering committee to monitor the polls. AL president Sheikh Hasina has been made chairman of the committee, while HT Imam, a member of the party’s advisory council, will act as its co-chairman. AL general secretary Obaidul Quader has also been made the member secretary of the committee.

Apart from this, the AL has appointed thousands of its activists and members of its central sub-committee to oversee the polls so that BNP-Jamaat men cannot resort to the terror tactics during the election hour, insiders said.