PM's first Rajshahi visit tomorrow: city dressed up, final preparations under way for Madrasa Field rally

Rajshahi city is in the final stages of preparation ahead of the arrival of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. From the rally venue to the roads leading into the city from the airport, work is under way across different areas — road repairs, painting and murals on walls, cleaning, and clearing footpaths of illegal occupation. At the historic Madrasa Field, construction of the rally stage and the overall arrangements are also being pushed ahead.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to visit Rajshahi tomorrow, Tuesday (20 October). It will be his first visit to Rajshahi since taking office as prime minister. Preparatory work has been going on across the city for the past several days, reaching a peak on the eve of the visit.

Visiting different parts of the city on Sunday (18 October), repair work could be seen on the roads from Shah Makhdum Airport into the city. Fresh asphalt was being laid in some places, while road dividers and railings were being painted in others. In the Railgate area, illegal occupation of footpaths was being removed and the surroundings cleaned. Murals were being painted on walls along Mahila College Road, and traders were cleared from footpaths in the Saheb Bazar area as well.

The Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) is working to improve the city's cleanliness and appearance. Earlier, from 6 to 8 October, illegal structures on footpaths were evicted in areas from Darikharbona intersection to Malopara, the Government Women's College area, Bata intersection and the New Market area.

Preparations are also under way at the historic Madrasa Field, the main rally venue. The road beside the field has been repaired, while construction of the rally stage and cleaning of the field are progressing.

RCC administrator Mahfuzur Rahman has visited the Madrasa Field several times to see the progress of the preparations. He inspected the cleaning, wall painting, road repair and stage construction work and instructed the officials concerned to finish within the stipulated time. In his words, the prime minister's visit has created an opportunity to speed up the ongoing development and beautification work.

Yesterday the field was inspected by Rajshahi-6 MP Abu Saeed, Rajshahi-5 MP Professor Nazrul Islam, BNP central organising secretary (Rajshahi division) Shahin Shawkat and RCC administrator Mahfuzur Rahman. Rajshahi divisional commissioner Md Yusuf Ali, additional divisional commissioner Habibur Rahman, deputy commissioner Kazi Shahidul Islam and other administration officials also inspected the preparations.

Paba-Mohanpur MP Shafiqul Haque said there is keen interest among the people of Rajshahi around the prime minister's visit. Speaking to journalists after inspecting the Madrasa Field yesterday afternoon, he said that despite the short time available for preparations, enthusiasm is visible among local people.

Shafiqul Haque said the prime minister will exchange views with members of the Hindu community on the occasion of Durga Puja. The MP hopes an important message may also come from him on agriculture and farmers in the northern region — he particularly mentioned support for sugarcane farmers.

He also spoke of plans to place several demands for Rajshahi's development before the prime minister during the visit. The proposals include building an effective seed preservation system, upgrading Rajshahi airport into a full international airport, establishing an agriculture-based export processing zone (EPZ), and completing the construction of Rajshahi Medical University quickly. A demand to establish a full-fledged agricultural university and to formally declare Rajshahi an 'education city' will also be raised, he said.

According to the published itinerary, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will visit the puja mandap at the Rajshahi Dharmasabha temple at 1:30pm on Tuesday. He is then scheduled to address the public rally at the historic Madrasa Field at 3pm.

Expectations among the people of Rajshahi are now running high around this first visit — everyone is waiting to hear what message the prime minister delivers at the rally on agriculture, education and infrastructure for the northern region.