Both the Dhaka City Corporations are in the darkness on those responsible for display of government's achievements and success on billboards in different city areas inscribed with slogans to vote for the party in the next elections.
The officials of the city corporations said they did not take any action, as they were yet to get any complaint over the grabbing of the billboards.
At least 1000 billboards have already been used by the ruling party to put advertisements of the government for highlighting the achievements of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spending Tk 100 crore, according to guess estimates.
The BNP said that the government has already spent more than Tk. 60 crore for the purpose while wanting to know the source of the money.
Ruling party men have grabbed several hundred billboards without any permission from the advertising agencies that have rented the billboards from the city corporations, it is alleged.
There are around 2,000 authorized billboards of which the ruling party has already grabbed at least 90 per cent for projecting "success and achievements'" of the government.
"City Corporation is empowered to lease out billboard to different advertising firms on yearly basis," Abu Alam Md. Shahid Khan, Secretary of Local Government Division of Ministry for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives told The New Nation on Wednesday. Different organizations rent those billboards for advertisements purpose, he said.
Md Ansar Ali Khan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) said, "We only monitor whether or not the billboards were used for any smear campaign of the government."
Neither the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), nor the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has so far taken any step to recover the billboards from the ruling party men.
Hundreds of billboards have already been used in the city's Motijheel, Farmgate, Shahbagh, Mirpur, Uttara and Malibagh areas to project " success and achievements" of the government.
The billboards have been pasted with placards, banners and festoons highlighting the successes of the government during the last four and a half years.
The campaign is part of an effort to thwart the opposition "propaganda" that said the government had failed to fulfill any of its electoral pledges.
Environment and Forests Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, also publicity secretary of the ruling party, failed to tell whether the money for the giant placards and banners were spent from the government exchequer or from the party fund.
"We know about the campaign. But AL is not directly involved. Some of our associate organisations might have done this. But one thing I can say is that it will eventually turn out to be a very cost effective method to launch the party campaign," he earlier on Sunday told the media.
"Publishing one million posters will cost around Tk 6m to Tk 10m. But billboards cost far less. Many city dwellers never care to look at a poster. But everyone reads the messages on a billboard," he said.
"If I can hang a billboard in the capital's Farmgate area, it will grab the attention of millions of people every day. So, we decided to go for the billboards," he said adding that his party would launch a similar campaign also in Chittagong this week.
The ruling party has so far puzzled people with their verbal words and now they're confusing the people through display of false and wrong information on billboards, said senior BNP leader MK Anwar.
Accusing the ruling party of grabbing the billboards, MK Anwar who is also a standing committee member of the BNP said it would not help increase their votes.
Countering the billboard information, Anwar said it has been described in the billboards that the government has achieved food autarky whereas it imported 42 lakh tonnes of food. "If the country is self-sufficient in food why does the government import food?" He said posing a question. The government, he said, could not fulfill any of its electoral pledges rather it has given corruption an institutional shape.
One representative of an advertisement company said: "Not only this time; after the government won the maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar, we had to face similar problem. Chhatra League, Jubo League and even Krishak League grabbed many billboards at that time."
Dates like August 15, the national mourning day, August 17, anniversary of the series bomb blast, and August 21, anniversary of the grenade attack on an Awami League rally, were other occasions when billboards were captured by the ruling party in the past, he recalled.
Around 90 per cent of their billboard spaces, he said have been taken over by the ruling party men for the party campaign. Our clients had rented them before Eid. I don't know what to do? Our hands are tied, he said in a tone of disappointment.
For renting 20 feet by 40 feet billboard for a year, a company generally has to pay around Tk 600,000. There are many bigger billboards in the city at strategic locations, which cost around Tk 1.5m for a year.