Reza Mahmud :
BNP senior leaders held a meeting with the Jatiya Oikya Front (JOF) leaders at the party Chairperson’s Gulshan office on Saturday night with a view to reaching a final decision over joining the upcoming Parliamentary polls or not.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee Member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Kader Siddiqui, Jatiya Oikya Front leader and Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna, JSD Vice-President Tania Rab, General Secretary Abdul Malek Ratan, Gano Foram Executive President Subrata Chowdhury, General Secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu, Oikya Front leaders Sultan Mohammad Mansur and Dr Jafarullah Chowdhury, among others, were attending the meeting till writing of this report at 10:30 in the night.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will brief the media about the outcome of the Oikya Front meeting at 11:00am..
Earlier, the BNP Standing Committee members met in the same venue in the evening to discuss the election related matters.
And then the BNP-led 23-party alliance leaders also sat at another meeting in the same venue to discuss the same issue. After the meeting, alliance leader and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Colonel (rtd) Oli Ahmed told journalists that the alliance would take decision on joining the polls or not after more discussions.
The alliance will send letter to the Election Commission on Sunday about the matter.
Oli said, “We will give the letter to the EC. We will write “If we go to the polls, then the registered political parties will take part in the election with their party symbols. The non-registered allies will contest with BNP’s symbol.”
Earlier, when asked BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a press briefing at its Nayapaltan central office when the party would start to sell its nomination forms, he replied, “It will be disclosed later.”
Rizvi said, “The Prime Minister assured the Oikya Front leaders during the dialogue that police will not file new cases and arrest the opposition party men. But, the police have started new phase of filing cases and arresting BNP men from that night.”
Only on Friday police arrested more than 300 leaders and activists of BNP around the country. The police are conducting massive arrest campaign across the country every moment, he said.
Rizvi said, “The arrest campaign and filing cases spree made the dialogue, the announcement of polls schedule and the election as a joke.”
A senior leader of the party preferring anonymity said that the BNP and Oikya Front leaders have been discussing the election issue and the country’s latest political situation to work out their next course of action.
He also said that the BNP may need Sunday to take its final decision on joining or boycotting the next national polls.
When contacted, BNP Vice-Chairman Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin told The New Nation, “Our party will take the decision after discussing the matter in our own forum.”
He said the ruling party wants to hold one-sided polls again but the people of the country will not pave them the way.
BNP Joint-Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal told The New Nation, “We have demanded rescheduling the polls. The most of the political parties also are demanding the same. The Election Commission should consider it if they want to conduct a participatory polls.”
Alal said, BNP is always with the people. We will do that what the people want.
