File photo of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Issuing a note of warning about intra-party feuds, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has said the grassroots will be held responsible if people do not vote for the party in the next general election.

She also came down hard on a section of nomination seekers, saying some people have already declared themselves as MP candidates of AL and are seen criticising the incumbent lawmakers and even the party while wooing voters.

"I won't accept if anyone maligns the party ... all have to keep this in mind. They will not get the party nomination,” she said, adding that candidates will be selected considering their popularity and services to people and grassroots workers.

The AL chief and prime minister was addressing a special extended meeting of the ruling party at the Gono Bhaban yesterday.

Saying that the next general election is very much challenging for the AL, Hasina asked all leaders and activists to work for the candidates to be selected by the party, reports UNB.

She categorically said the AL would again form an alliance with like-minded parties in the next election, and asked her party colleagues to get ready for sacrifice.

Hasina also expressed her reservation about “infiltrators” and urged the party lawmakers to exercise caution about the opportunists and criminals who have taken refuge in the AL, saying many such elements have joined the party to make a fortune or avert trial.

The AL should not be a sanctuary for those accused of arson or any other criminal acts, Hasina said, calling upon the lawmakers to get rid of them right now as they may commit some crimes ahead of the next general election, reports BSS.

Sounding a warning to the party MPs, the AL president said, “People are very much conscious ... if anyone commits corruption, people remember it very well. If you take money for any job, people will say at election time, 'We have given you money for our job, why would we vote for you now?'”

After Hasina's formal address, a closed-door meeting with the grassroots started and eight leaders from eight divisions spoke. Some of them were very critical of infiltration of BNP-Jamaat men into the party and intra-party feuds, said sources.

The issue of infiltration also dominated the extended meeting held on May 20 last year.

According to AL sources, after the party took office in 2009, several thousand BNP-Jamaat men were believed to have joined the ruling party apparently to have their names off politically motivated cases and avoid police harassment.

Speaking at the closed-door meeting yesterday, Dhaka District AL President Benazir Ahmed focused on intra-party conflicts, saying this is the party's main problem. He recommended forming committees comprising central leaders to travel across the country to resolve internal disputes.

Painting a grim picture about the party grassroots, he said many leaders don't even want to see each other's face.

“Awami League itself is enough to defeat the Awami League,” he was quoted by a source as saying.

Jamalpur AL President Baki Billah voiced concern about “infiltration” and demanded effective measures immediately to stop the trend, said sources.

"Our boat has already started tilting because it is crammed with a huge number of new people. If the trend continues, the boat will definitely sink," he was quoted as saying.

"The ghosts of Zia and Mushtaq have got on the boat. We have to stay alert.”

AL CELEBRATES FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY

The AL and its front organisations yesterday celebrated the party's 69th founding anniversary through different programmes in the city and elsewhere in the country.

Hasina inaugurated the celebration by hoisting the national and party flags and releasing pigeons and balloons in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban on Dhanmondi Road-32.

Later, she paid tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing a wreath at the mural of the leader in front of the historic Dhanmondi-32 house.

She also inaugurated the new headquarters of her party on Bangabandhu Avenue.