The BNP-led 20-party alliance is planning to organise mass rallies in districts surrounding the capital to make its anti-government movement a success in Dhaka towards the end of January next year.
As the Dhaka city unit BNP failed to wage any movement against the January 5 national election, party chief Khaleda Zia this time is focussing her attention on the capital and its adjacent districts.
However, none from the party could give any idea about the movement strategy. A number of leaders said the chairperson was finalising the programme discussing with only a few leaders.
A senior leader said Khaleda was drawing out a movement strategy alone as during the January 5 election information was leaked out. “This is why madam [Khaleda] is very alert.”
When contacted four Standing Committee members and some vice-chairmen and joint secretaries general expressed their ignorance about the movement strategy.
MK Anwar, Standing Committee member of the party, said: “I do not know anything and even none has discussed the issue in my presence.”
Amanullah Aman, joint secretary general, said: “The party has some plans but the plan is yet to be disclosed to us.”
The BNP chief has already held 10 district rallies across the country to drum up public support in favour of the demand for an election under a non-partisan government.
Now her priority is to hold rallies in the districts adjacent to the capital to ensure people’s participation in the upcoming movement, said alliance leaders.
Khaleda aready held a public rally in Narayanganj on December 13 and is scheduled to hold another in Gazipur on December 27.
She is likely to hold two more rallies either in Munshiganj or Keraniganj and Manikganj or Savar in January, said a party insider.
But if the government hiked prices of gas and electricity before these two meetings, the movement would start from the capital and in that case those meetings could be cancelled, said the leader.
BNP Organising Secretary Fazlul Haque Milon, who is assigned to look after the organisational activities in Dhaka division, said: “Madam [Khaleda] has participated in a lot of meetings far from the capital. Now she is focussing on the districts surrounding the capital.”
Earlier, the BNP chairperson said she would herself take to the street this time and urged party leaders ad activists to be with her in a bid to oust the government.
She, however, did not give any timeframe for the movement but asked party activists to be prepared for the call.
Before the January 5 election, the capital was apparently isolated from the rest of the country because of BNP-Jamaat’s violent movement bu the city unit of the party failed to wage any movement in the capital.
To intensify the movement, the Dhaka city committee was reconstituted, bringing Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas and Swechchhasebak Dal President Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel in leading positions of the committee.
Khaleda at a programme in the capital on Thursday said this time the street of the capital would not remain empty as she would take to the street along with other senior leaders of her party.
“The alliance could hold a meeting in Savar-Manikganj area and Musnhiganj-Keraniganj area but the dates of those two meetings are yet to be fianlised,” Shafiul Alam Prodhan, president of Jagpa, told the Dhaka Tribune.
To make the upcoming movement a success in the capital, Khaleda held a series of meetings with the associated and front organisations to charge them up and is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Dhaka city unit BNP.
From the Narayanganj rally Khaleda threatened to wage a non-stop movement from the day the government hiked the prices of power, gas and fuel.
She even challenged the government to face her in the street and pledged to go back home only after the ouster of the government.
The BNP chief said they had given 12 months to hold a fresh election under a non-party government but as the government had not yet paid any heed to her demand she had no more time to sit idle.
