bdnews24.com :Khaleda Zia has asked BNP leaders to do everything they can to help the 19-party alliance candidates win the Upazila Parishad elections.At a meeting with policymakers, the BNP Chairperson ordered them to strengthen party at the grassroots level, said several leaders who attended it.The two-hour-long the Standing Committee meeting held at her Gulshan office on Thursday night also discussed the political and law and order situations, extra-judicial killings and abductions, human rights condition and party activities.However, the BNP did not brief the media after the meeting. A member of the party’s highest policymaking body, asking not to be named, told bdnews24.com: “The Chairperson has urged us to back the party and alliance-supported candidates to help them win elections. She has asked the central leaders to get pro-active.”The party chief also asked for choosing one candidate in areas where there are several or rebel aspirants, they said.There is no chance of contesting with party nomination in the elections to Upazila Parishad – a local government body. But political parties have been choosing candidates of their choice.Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee members RA Gani, Moudud Ahmed, Mahbubur Rahman, MK Anwar, Jamiruddin Sircar, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Rafiqul Islam Mia had attended the meeting.The BNP chief also called for strengthening the grassroots operations, two days after she had said that fresh agitations will be announced when the party is ‘tidied up’.”The Chairperson also discussed strategies for that,” said the leader, preferring to remain unnamed as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.The last meeting of the Standing Committee took place on Nov 7 last year, after which several top BNP leaders were arrested. Of them, Moudud, Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Mia were released recently.The BNP and its allies have dubbed the incumbent Awami League-led government ‘illegal’ and are demanding fresh polls under a non-party government.
