'Tour your own constituencies'

Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked her party candidates to go to their electoral constituencies saying that the upcoming national election would be "competitive".

Hasina, also the prime minister, gave the directives to the party nominees through her cabinet colleagues during an informal discussion with them following a cabinet meeting at the secretariat.

“The party's nomination process has already been completed. You need not stay in Dhaka now. Go to your respective areas; go to the people,” a minister told The Daily Star quoting the PM.

“The upcoming election will be competitive. So, there is no scope to be in a relaxed mood,” she said.

The PM also informed her colleagues that the next cabinet meeting, scheduled for December 3, would be the last one of the present cabinet.

The 11th parliamentary polls will be held on December 30.

All four technocrat ministers, who had resigned on November 6 as per instructions from the PM, joined yesterday's cabinet meeting. No gazette notification was issued in this regard and they were instructed to carry out duties until their resignations were accepted.

Asked about the technocrat ministers, Cabinet Secretary Shafiul Alam yesterday said, “There was no update in this regard.”

Sources said the PM at the meeting asked the ministers, involved in preparing the AL's election manifesto, to give importance to young voters.

“The issues that can attract young voters should be on the manifesto,” she said.

Around 70 percent of the 10.41 crore voters are aged 35 or below. More than two crore of voters have been added to the voter list since the 2008 general election.