BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman on Monday said public security would be the highest priority if his party forms the government, pledging to take strict measures to ensure safety and law and order across the country.

Speaking at an election rally at Pirjangi Mazar Road in Motijheel, Dhaka in support of Mirza Abbas, the sheaf of paddy candidate for Dhaka-8, Tarique said the party would bring the law-and-order situation under strict control. “We want to build a safe Bangladesh where mothers and sisters can move freely without fear, and people can sleep peacefully at night after working and running their businesses.”

While emphasizing security, the BNP chairman also vowed to build a corruption-free country, pledging no compromise in tackling graft. Referring to the 2001 tenure of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, he said: “Just as the leader of the nation brought the country out of corruption in 2001, corruption will be curbed in the same way in the future. In this process, the law will take its own course.”

Contrasting the BNP with other parties, Tarique said rivals may deliver appealing statements to win applause but lack concrete plans for governance. He claimed that changing the fate of the people and eliminating corruption could only be achieved through BNP leadership.

Urging Dhaka-8 voters to elect a local representative, he said outsiders cannot effectively address area-specific problems. “An outsider can never truly understand the people of the household,” he added.

Dhaka-8 candidate and BNP Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas, Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal President Afroza Abbas, and other local leaders also addressed the rally.

The BNP chairman campaigned earlier in the day at a total of eight election rallies across the capital, including Dhaka-17, Dhaka-10, Dhaka-9, and Dhaka-5 constituencies, in support of the sheaf of paddy candidates.