The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Friday that the proposed budget would encourage corruption.

He said, ‘This is a budget for legalising undisclosed money and do corruption.’

Fakhrul made the remarks while addressing a discussion meeting at Dhaka Reporters Unity organised by Sonali Dal, a BNP-affiliated teachers’ organisation, at Bangladesh Agriculture University on the work and policies of former president and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman.

The BNP leader said that greater allocation was allotted to the communication sector in the budget as corruption could be easily done there.

Having said that the ruling AL government was based on lies, Fakhrul alleged that all the statistics shown [in the budget] were false and fabricated.

‘Where is employment issue in the budget? Those who used to do small businesses or work in Dhaka are going back to the village, but there is no work either,’ he said.

About the results of India’s Lokshaba election, he said that even if there is minimal democracy, people find a way.

‘The rulers there thought they would get 400 seats, and their aim was to amend the constitution and establish a Hindutva-centric state, but the people of India have stopped it,’ he said, adding that it was possible only because there was an institution like the Election Commission of India.

He further said, ‘The electoral system has broken [in Bangladesh] while there is no independence of the judiciary and the bureaucracy is also controlled.’

Denying Ziaur Rahman means denying the independence of the country, Fakhrul said, adding that the BNP founder and former president emerged as the saviour of the nation in difficult times.