BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has kept herself confined inside her house, Environment and Forest Minister Hasan Mahmud said on Wednesday.
“If she is under house arrest, how does the envoy of the United States go there and meet her?” he said at a press conference held in his office.
“She did not go to BNP's Nayapaltan office in last two months,” he added. “She (Khaleda) went only to her Gulshan office.”
The comment came after the BNP chief was shelved inside her quarters after attempting to come out for her party's Dhaka March programme on Sunday.
Jatiya Party Chairman Hussein Muhammad Ershad, who was frequently on the news through December, was “being kept” at Combined Military Hospital.
“Though HM Ershad is sick and attending treatments at CMH, he is playing golf as part of his treatments,” the minister said.
“We talked with BNP leaders personally and officially to reach a consensus. But, they could not participate in the polls because their chief was unbending.”
When asked who will be the main opposition in polls, the minister said: “It is difficult to tell that now. There are 12 parties participating in the elections.”
The comments were made just days ahead of the January 5 elections.
