Staff Reporter :
The BNP on Sunday demanded re-election in all the Union Parishads of the country where elections were held in the first and second phases.
“There were widespread violence, irregularities and vote rigging in the UP polls. People boycotted the polls. We demand re-election,” said BNP senior joint-secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed.
Speaking in a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the city, he also renewed his party’s demand for the resignation of the Election Commission (EC) because of its subversive role during the UP polls.
The BNP leader alleged that the ruling party cadres are resorting to hooliganism, killing people, attacking opposition candidates and their supporters with arms and vandalising and torching their houses. “The EC is responsible for all these heinous acts. People have turned down all the elections under the current subservient EC,” he said.
Rizvi Ahmed also alleged that the EC did nothing to check the irregularities and violation of the election code of conduct despite their party’s repeated complaints,. “Our candidates’ nomination papers were snatched at gunpoint. Even, nominations of our many candidates were cancelled on trivial grounds,” he said.
He criticised Awami League joint-general secretary Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif for his comment that BNP was thinking of boycotting the remaining UP polls to avert humiliation and debacle. He termed the comment mockery with the people.
Replying to a question whether their party is going to boycott the remaining phases of the polls, he said that BNP policymakers would decide it very soon.
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan echoed the same of Rizvi Ahmed at a separate programme in the city and said, it is meaningless for the BNP to participate in the remaining phases of the UP polls.
Nazrul Islam Khan made the observation at a discussion meeting of Bangladesh Kallyan Party, a partner of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, at the Photo Journalists’
Association auditorium. On the other hand, BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia held a meeting with members of the Standing Committee, the highest policy-making body of the party, and party’s senior other leaders to decide whether her party would remain continue the UP polls.
Held at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office in the city, the meeting began after 9:00 PM and it was continuing till filing of the report at about 10:30 PM. Chairperson’s advisers, vice-chairmen of the party, joint-secretary generals and organising secretaries joined the meeting.
Party insiders said, there are differences of opinion among the party leaders over the decision to boycott the UP polls.
Some leaders think BNP is not being benefitted from joining the election. Rather, it is making party men frustrated and financially losers, while others feel that their demand for restoration of non-party caretaker government is getting louder with the present election situation.
The BNP on Sunday demanded re-election in all the Union Parishads of the country where elections were held in the first and second phases.
“There were widespread violence, irregularities and vote rigging in the UP polls. People boycotted the polls. We demand re-election,” said BNP senior joint-secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed.
Speaking in a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the city, he also renewed his party’s demand for the resignation of the Election Commission (EC) because of its subversive role during the UP polls.
The BNP leader alleged that the ruling party cadres are resorting to hooliganism, killing people, attacking opposition candidates and their supporters with arms and vandalising and torching their houses. “The EC is responsible for all these heinous acts. People have turned down all the elections under the current subservient EC,” he said.
Rizvi Ahmed also alleged that the EC did nothing to check the irregularities and violation of the election code of conduct despite their party’s repeated complaints,. “Our candidates’ nomination papers were snatched at gunpoint. Even, nominations of our many candidates were cancelled on trivial grounds,” he said.
He criticised Awami League joint-general secretary Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif for his comment that BNP was thinking of boycotting the remaining UP polls to avert humiliation and debacle. He termed the comment mockery with the people.
Replying to a question whether their party is going to boycott the remaining phases of the polls, he said that BNP policymakers would decide it very soon.
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan echoed the same of Rizvi Ahmed at a separate programme in the city and said, it is meaningless for the BNP to participate in the remaining phases of the UP polls.
Nazrul Islam Khan made the observation at a discussion meeting of Bangladesh Kallyan Party, a partner of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, at the Photo Journalists’
Association auditorium. On the other hand, BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia held a meeting with members of the Standing Committee, the highest policy-making body of the party, and party’s senior other leaders to decide whether her party would remain continue the UP polls.
Held at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office in the city, the meeting began after 9:00 PM and it was continuing till filing of the report at about 10:30 PM. Chairperson’s advisers, vice-chairmen of the party, joint-secretary generals and organising secretaries joined the meeting.
Party insiders said, there are differences of opinion among the party leaders over the decision to boycott the UP polls.
Some leaders think BNP is not being benefitted from joining the election. Rather, it is making party men frustrated and financially losers, while others feel that their demand for restoration of non-party caretaker government is getting louder with the present election situation.
