Khaleda Zia, head of the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance, will address a public rally on the grounds of the Aliya Madrasa in Sylhet today.
Today’s rally is the fifth one out of the eight rallies the opposition alliance had chalked to carry out countrywide in order to stimulate public support for the demand that the next general election be held under a caretaker government.
The motorcade of Khaleda left her Gulshan residence around 5:30pm on Friday.
Khaleda arrived in Sylhet around 12:30am and spent the night at the Sylhet Circuit House. On her way she took rest for some time at the residence of Habiganj district unit BNP’s president SM Faisal.
From evening, amid drizzle, hundreds of party leaders and activists gathered at several points from Jatrabari to Sylhet with festoons and placards on Friday that created huge tailback on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway causing immense suffering to commuters.
Khaleda remained stuck in the gridlock for 40 minutes near Kachpur bridge next to the highway.
Earlier, during her tour to Khulna, Khaleda asked her party leaders and activists for not staging showdowns as her tours were meant for gathering public support to the cause of holding election under non-partisan caretaker government, not for seeking votes.
However, a number of nomination seekers from the party staged showdowns to draw the attention of Chairperson Khaleda in order to get nominated for contesting in the next general elections.
Earlier, the former premier addressed rallies in Narsingdi on September 8, in Rangpur on September 15, in Rajshahi on September 16 and in Khulna on September 29. The rally scheduled for September 29 was postponed and fresh schedule is to be announced.
Khaleda is also scheduled to address rally in Dhaka and in Chittagong after Eid-ul-Azha.
