The New Nation - Internet Edition

Rafiqul Islam Azad

Two former prime ministers and leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Awami League Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina are passing through tough times now as they are addressing at least a dozen public meetings each a day.

The pressure on BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is due to sore throat as she was addressing meetings till early hours of every day.

The campaigns of the two leaders follow a pattern. Awami League (AL) president Sheikh Hasina appears to have taken a cunning move to mould the public opinion in her alliance's favour by addressing meeting at sites visited by Begum Khaleda Zia before.

Some observers said the same tactic was adopted by BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia during campaign for the 2001 polls.

The advantage of speaking to the voters after the visit of the opponent is that the points made by the latter can be interpreted to change public opinion in one's favour.

Begum Khaleda Zia, who launched her election campaign on December 12 from Sylhet after visiting the shrines of Hazrat Shah Jalal and Hazrat Shah Paran (RH), has already visited a good number of districts in western, northern and southern regions of the country.

As part of her ongoing campaign, Begum Zia yesterday addressed public meetings in different constituencies in Munshiganj and Barisal. On her way to Dhaka, she was scheduled also to address rallies in Faridpur and Manikganj.

According to party sources, the BNP Chairperson will visit Sylhet Division today and take part in election campaigns in favour of four-party alliance candidates.

Sheikh Hasina also launched her election campaign from Sylhet through visiting the shrines of Hazrat Shah Jalal and Hazrat Shah Paran (RH) on December 11.

She has already completed her election campaigns in all constituencies in the capital city of Dhaka.

The AL chief also addressed public meetings at almost all constituencies in the western region including Gopalganj, Faridpur, Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia, Magura and Narail districts which were visited by Khaleda Zia earlier.

Yesterday she visited different constituencies in Gazipur, Tangail and Mymensingh districts. Begum Zia visited these constituencies the previous day.

Party sources said, Sheikh Hasina has no tour programme today. She is likely to visit northern districts tomorrow. BNP Chairperson has already covered the region.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina has taken a method of holding video conferences with party leaders and voters in different constituencies. As part of the programme, the AL chief is likely to hold such a conference with the city dwellers from her Dhanmondi residence today.