BNP to enforce tough hartal protesting polls-schedule

Staff Reporter :
The main opposition party-BNP- and like-minded parties on Thursday called a 48-hour hartal across the country from November 19 to press home their one-point demand and protest the announcement of next parliamentary polls- schedule by the Election Commission.

The announcement came on the last day of the 48-hour blockade enforced by the BNP and its allies.

BNP Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the hartal programme through a virtual press conference at around 4pm on Thursday. He said the shutdown will begin at 6am on Sunday.

Rizvi said his party will enforce the hartal to mount pressure on the government to step down handing over power to a neutral government and to release all the arrested BNP leaders and workers, including its secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Apart from these, several other opposition parties, including, Jamaat-e-Islami, Gono Odhikar Parishad and Labour Party also announced a 48-hour hartal during the same period.

Besides, one of BNP’s allies Ganatantra Mancha, a group of six political parties and organisations, on Thursday also announced a 48-hour hartal across Bangladesh for November 19 and November 20.

The opposition parties alleged that Election Commission had announced the schedule to stage a one-sided election.

They demanded cancellation of the election schedule and announced to resist any unilateral polls.

The BNP and its allies are on simultaneous movement to press home their demand for resignation of the government, dissolving the parliament and holding the next general election under a neutral caretaker government.