The BNP also called a countrywide hartal from Saturday morning to Monday morning as part of their movement to boycott the national elections. The party made this announcement during a virtual press briefing on Thursday afternoon.

BNP’s Joint Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that the fresh programmes are designed to increase public support in favour of the BNP’s call to boycott the parliamentary election. He said other like-minded opposition parties will also observe a similar programme on Friday, just two days before the election day. Rizvi called upon the opposition leaders and workers to make the programme a success with their spontaneous support.

The major opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies are boycotting the upcoming polls, alleging a free and fair election is not possible under the current government.

This time 1,970 candidates are vying for 300 seats including 90 women and 79 candidates from religious and ethnic minorities.

Bangladesh, the nation of nearly 180 million people will vote this coming Sunday to elect 300 lawmakers and the next government.

The national parliament of Bangladesh- called Jatiyo Sangshad- has 350 members of which 300 members are directly elected through voting. They serve for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The remaining 50 memberships are reserved for the women who are nominated by the government.

Navalsang Parmar (Dhaka)