BNP and BJP
Our prime minister's visit to India has been a much talked about phenomenon both in Bangladesh and India. The heated debate still continues in our media and public sphere about the pros and cons of the visit. Many believe the visit to be a promising one considering the unresolved issues lingering for the last three decades. The prime minister of Bangladesh herself has termed her visit to India and done deals as hundred percent fruitful and the scale is obviously much more lenient to Bangladeshi side. On the other hand, the opposition has accused the government that it has not seen our country's interest.
I do not want to give any certificate to our government's claim as well as opposition's negative attitude towards the issue, but as a citizen what I realize is that our opposition has not played a constructive role on the issue, compared to the role played by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). One might ask, could not BJP protest against our PM's visit as they are not in power? Or what if they would raise the issue of not providing transit from India to Nepal for the benefit of Bangladesh? Could not they halt the agreement through political movement and take advantage in the next election out of this issue? I think the BJP is quite mindful about those issues and they know how ordinary citizens would react if they go against their will.
So , should not the BNP take a lesson from the BJP as both are in the opposition's seat?
Actually, it is not the politicians who determine the fate of the people rather people have their own thinking and imagination to decide the political parties' fate. This reality, most of the times, goes unnoticed. I am not saying that the BNP should follow the BJP's politics but at least the former should know the thinking of the common citizen. At the same time our political parties should not think that all citizens are divided into two broader lines and guided by the foisted political principles all the times. I think we have more swing voters than the diehard supporters which is why we cannot predict the results before the election.
It is not the BNP or the Awami League which should define the public agenda and concern, rather they should fix their own agenda; People will prioritise their own concern through their conscience and decision. The question comes how can political parties get the information about people's opinion so that they can streamline and correct themselves accordingly? To me it is none but mass media's role to carry out nation-wide survey on various issues on a regular basis.
I will urge our politicians to count the people's opinion and try to become politically more correct.
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