BNP bets big on leaflets: Bold pledges for jobs, repairing state in polls push
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is close to finalising a leaflet-based election manifesto that places state restructuring, renewed democratic practice and massive employment creation at the heart of its campaign for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections.
The party plans to roll out the full document before the formal campaign begins, according to leaders familiar with the process.
Senior figures discussed the draft in detail at a recent Standing Committee meeting, where the party approved a strategy built around distributing sector-specific leaflets across the country. BNP aims to use these short, easy-to-circulate papers to explain how it plans to “repair the state” and rebuild key institutions if voted into power.
A manifesto built around state repair
Sources said the document will draw from BNP’s existing 31-point pledge, the July Charter and the party’s latest political guidance. The core themes are expected to include an overhaul of the electoral system, restoration of democratic checks and balances, judicial independence, decentralised administration, stronger human rights protection and a tougher anti-corruption framework.
Leaders say the main message is to return state ownership to citizens and end partisan influence over the administration.
Sector-by-sector leaflets
BNP plans to publish separate leaflets for education, employment, health, agriculture, industry, business, sports, administration and anti-corruption. Each will outline the sector’s challenges, the party’s proposed reforms and what voters can expect if BNP forms the next government.
Youth and women are a major target group. Organisers have been instructed to deliver the leaflets door-to-door across all districts.
Education and employment at the front
The party wants to raise the national education budget and expand practical schooling by adding technical subjects from early grades. It also plans to introduce a third language in primary school and a fourth in secondary school, giving students the option to learn Arabic, German, French, Japanese or Chinese to improve their chances in the global job market.
BNP’s employment agenda includes:
• Ten million new jobs in 18 months
• Support for freelancers through PayPal and Wise
• Export expansion via global e-commerce platforms
• New SME clusters in every district
• Five million family cards
• Planting 50 million trees in five years
• Tackling corruption and extortion in the tea industry
The leaflets will also address safer campuses, merit-based student politics, women’s education and better student housing.
Health promises modelled on the NHS
A dedicated health leaflet will outline a universal health system inspired by the UK’s NHS. It will pledge free primary healthcare, more rural doctors (with a large share being women), expanded budgets, upgraded upazila and district hospitals, emergency care guidelines and 24-hour helplines. It may also propose partnerships with private hospitals.
Agriculture, food security and climate resilience
BNP plans to introduce farmers’ cards, expand climate-resilient farming, restore 20,000 kilometres of rivers and canals, build modern barrages and promote water-saving paddy cultivation. More cold storage units, over a million new agro-industry jobs, and youth-driven farming via drones and startups are also in the plan.
State reform and political commitments
The manifesto will outline measures such as an inclusive political culture, executive law reform, an upper house in parliament, abolishing party symbols in local elections, returning to paper ballots, forming a judicial commission and reinstating the Supreme Judicial Council.
BNP will also propose a white paper on alleged money laundering over the past 15 years, repatriation of laundered funds and an end to disappearances and extrajudicial killings. The slogan “religion for all, state for all” will feature prominently.
What BNP leaders say
Vice-Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu said the manifesto would be released “very soon.”
Standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan echoed that the announcement is close.
Another standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury added, “We have to deliver from day one. Creating jobs for one crore people is our homework. Tarique Rahman’s future plan must reach the public and be executed.”
BNP plans to unveil the manifesto once the campaign officially begins, setting the tone for an election it hopes will mark a political reset.