Dhaka: BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday said the government cannot resist the mass wave already created in favour of the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ with its ‘repressive’ acts.

‘The arrest and harassment of our leaders and activists is going on despite the announcement of the election schedule. But people are giving tremendous response to us braving the arrest and harassment, manifesting a mass wave of people in favour of the ‘Sheaf of Paddy. No one will able to resist it,’ he said, reports the UNB.

The BNP leader came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after the interview of their party’s aspirants from Mymensingh and Faridpur divisions at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office.

Asked about their seat-sharing with their alliance partners, he said they will do that very soon and come up with an announcement in this regard at the right time. ‘We’ll sit with our alliances and finalise our nomination. As we’re there in the race, we’ll hold the election properly.’

Reacting to Election Commission’s comment that BNP has been lodging complaints randomly, Fakhrul said their party’s complaints are very specific ones. ‘BNP is not making allegations arbitrarily. Our complaints are clear and specific.’

He said they have long been saying the Election Commission (EC) must work independently. ‘If they (EC) fails to properly discharge their constitutional duty, they must be responsible to people.’

The BNP leader said they still hope that the Commission will rightly play their role in ensuring a credible election as per the desire of people.

He said their party’s nomination board took interview of 233 nomination seekers from Mymensingh and Faridpur divisions from 10am to 3pm on Wednesday.

The nomination board is now taking the interview of nomination hopefuls of Dhaka divisions.

Like the three previous days, BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman joined the nomination board through a telecommunication app from the UK.

Fakhrul said all of those are giving interviews are very tested and dedicated party leaders, and they will put their all efforts to ensure the party’s victory in the election. ‘We believe the way we’re getting response from people, we’ll surely be able to remove the current autocratic regime,’ he added.

The four-day interview of the party’s nomination seekers is set to end with the interview of Dhaka division aspirants.