Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will give top priority on upazila elections ensuring the victory of its candidates at any cost. The decision was taken at a meeting of party standing committee held at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office with Khaleda Zia in the chair.
The highest level policymaking body of the party also decided to launch fresh movement after the upazila elections demanding holding of parliament polls be participated by all political parties, meeting sources said.The new programme will be launched with the demand to hold fresh elections immediately and there will be no specific time frame for it, they said.
The standing committee members expressed their resentments over the roles and activities of Dhaka city unit of BNP and its student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal during the movement in the past, said a standing committee member.
He said, the party high command assured them the city unit of BNP and Chhatra Dal will be recast soon.
The standing committee members appreciated and thanked Khaleda Zia for her political decision not to take part in the “farcical” polls.
The meeting also highlighted the contribution of grassroots level leaders during the anti-government movement and opined that their leadership would be evaluated in future.
The standing committee also decided to announce a programme within a couple of days to stage demonstration demanding fresh polls.
The meeting discussed the holding of council but no decision was taken in this regard.
The highest policymaking body also discussed the latest development in the political arena and the next course of action at a meeting of party standing committee.
The last meeting of the standing committee, the apex body of the mail rival of the ruling Awami League, was held on November 7 last years.
Different political issues, including the January 5 general election, which was boycotted by the BNP-led 18-party alliance, the forthcoming upazila polls, and party’s organizational activities, came up in the discussion, meeting sources said.
The meeting also reviewed the current political state of the country, party strategies to deal with the situation and future course of action, sources added.
DR RA Ghani, Barrister
