Modi endorses Hasina's development claim ahead of 2024 polls in Bangladesh

With Bangladesh set to go to polls by January 2024, India on Saturday subtly endorsed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s claim about unprecedented development in her country during her tenure since 2009.

“Bangladesh, under the able leadership of PM Sheikh Hasina, has made remarkable progress in the past few years, and it is a matter of pride for everyone in India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he joined his counterpart in Dhaka through video link.

Modi’s comment came at a time when Hasina’s political rivals sharpened criticism against her, even questioning her claims on development, which the ruling Awami League might turn into its main poll plank during the elections.

“We are also happy that we have been able to contribute to this journey of Bangladesh's development,” Modi said as he and Hasina virtually inaugurated a cross-border energy pipeline, built at a cost of Rs 377 crore.

Also read | Modi, Hasina inaugurate Rs 377-cr diesel pipeline to Bangladesh

Apart from funding the construction of the pipeline in India, New Delhi also provided Dhaka with Rs 285 crore to build the portion in Bangladesh.

The pipeline will put in place a sustainable, reliable, cost-effective, and environment friendly mode of transporting high-speed diesel from India to Bangladesh and will enhance cooperation in energy security between the two nations. It has a capacity to transport 1 Million Metric Ton Per Annum (MMTPA) of HSD.

Hasina’s first tenure as PM of Bangladesh ended in 2001. However, she led her Awami League party to return to power in 2009. She cracked down on the radicals and brought to justice the Islamists, who had helped the Pakistan Army carrying out the genocide in 1971.

She led Bangladesh to register an annual economic growth of 8.4% just before the Covid-19 crisis hit the world. She decimated her political opponents like the Jamaat-e-Islami and her archrival Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh National Party, and consolidated her position politically, leading the Awami League to cakewalk victories in the January 2014 and December 2018 parliamentary polls too.

However, even as she gets ready to run for re-election to the PM position for the fifth time, her political adversaries accuse her and her party of manipulating previous elections, intimidating the opposition with state resources, and undermining democracy.