The ruling BNP high-ups speaking at rallies and meetings across the country are seeking re-election with the pledge to root out corruption and introduce free education for female students up to the degree level.

Besides, they have started declaring area-specific development plans in different districts with the promise to implement those if voted to power again.

Before the last parliamentary election in which BNP secured a landslide victory, party Chairperson Khaleda Zia had announced her party's 32-point election manifesto that included the pledges to free Bangladesh from corruption and terrorism.

The BNP had also promised separation of the judiciary from the executive, appointment of ombudsman, setting up a national human rights commission, repealing the Special Powers Act, election to zilla and upazila parishads and autonomy to state-run media.

But all these pledges have been mired in uncertainty and there is little possibility of their implementation in the remaining seven months of the government's tenure.

The BNP policymakers however keep on claiming that they are fulfilling election pledges one after another.

One of the vital pledges was to root out corruption from the state and social levels, but in reality the situation has worsened under the four-party alliance regime due to lack of effective measures to curb grafts. Transparency International rated Bangladesh as the most corrupt nation in four successive years of the BNP government.

The government is claiming that it has achieved record successes in development activities including rural electrification, agriculture, health and communications sectors but all these claims have been overshadowed by all-pervading corruption.

"No effort for development and people's welfare will succeed unless corruption is rooted out from the state and social life," Khaleda said in her party's 2001 election manifesto. "For this, BNP will emphasise rooting out corruption," she promised.

But there is no sign of any effective move to root out corruption from the state level.

BNP had promised disclosure of wealth statements of public representatives including the prime minister, ministers and others enjoying the status of ministers, but no step has been taken in the last four and a half years in this regard.

The government ignored the allegations of corruption against some ministers and lawmakers and did not take any move to probe those, although many BNP lawmakers at a parliamentary party meeting demanded removal of "corrupt ministers."

The BNP had also promised to appoint an ombudsman to eliminate corruption "in the shortest possible time". This pledge, too, remained unfulfilled.

The government formed the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2004, but it did not make the commission a constitutional body as pledged in the manifesto. The commission is yet to start functioning effectively due to the government's interference.

The BNP manifesto for 2001 election had blasted the previous Awami League (AL) government for "unabated corruption" as the country was branded the most corrupt by the Transparency International (TI) for the first time during AL rule.

"The Awami League government, its prime minister and party men are responsible for the corruption, not the people," said the BNP manifesto.

But when the TI rated Bangladesh as the most corrupt nation in each year of the coalition rule, the government high-ups blasted the TI and challenged its corruption index. They however failed to raise a serious question about the TI corruption index.

Apart from the alarming rise in corruption at different levels of the administration, violation of human rights, skyrocketing price of essentials and acute crisis of power have put people's lives in a miserable situation.

The BNP had promised that it would take up "Electricity for All" programme, generate more power, expand activities of Rural Electrification Board and reduce systems loss.

But the reality is different. The only achievement of the government in the power sector is the 80 MW Tongi power plant that has tripped over 75 times since it started operation in March last year mostly due to very poor machinery.

As the government has failed to generate sufficient power as it had pledged in 2001, the country is currently facing a serious power crisis that sparked public protests. Irrigation and industrial production are being hampered due to the crisis.

Police shot dead eight people who were demonstrating in Kansat in Chapainawabganj for uninterrupted supply of power in January this year.

The prime minister is however repeatedly saying that the power situation was more serious during the previous Awami League rule. Eyeing the next polls, she is now giving assurance of resolving the crisis in the upcoming years.

The BNP had pledged to uproot terrorism, but its four and a half years' rule saw an alarming escalation of Islamist militancy and suicidal bomb blasts.

The government initially blamed the media for running "false stories" on militancy but later backtracked and launched a crackdown on the Islamist outfits. The government has however made no move to take action against the political patrons of the militants.

The BNP had promised to build Bangladesh as a country free from poverty by ensuring social and economic justice, but in the last four and a half years economic disparity between the rich and poor has widened.

Faced with criticism on the soaring commodity prices, the government high-ups claim that it is rather the people's purchase capacity that has increased.

However, the BNP-led government has fulfilled a number of its election pledges.

The government has formed three new ministries in line with the election pledges. It has increased the number of women reserved seats in parliament from 30 to 45, though it has not introduced direct voting as pledged in the election manifesto.

Another pledge on increasing the number of seats in parliament from 300 to 500 remains on paper, as no initiative has been taken in this regard.

The BNP had also promised to take initiative for necessary amendments to the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, signed by the Awami League government. But this pledge also remains unfulfilled.