Decision on contesting UP polls
BNP to consult 20-party alliance leaders today
The BNP will decide on whether the party would take part or boycott the next phases of Union Parishad polls after a meeting with 20-party alliance leaders scheduled for today and also after taking views of grassroots leaders.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia told this to party leaders yesterday after they could not decide on the party stance regarding the ongoing Union Parishad polls, as many senior leaders stood in favour the party contesting the local body elections.
Senior BNP leaders at a meeting with party Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office gave their different views both in favour of staying with the UP polls and boycotting it. The two-hour long meeting began at 9:30, where leaders discussed the logic behind participating in the UP polls and alleged that their victories are being snatched through violence, vote rigging and ballot stuffing. Meeting sources said it is more likely that the party would continue taking part in the UP polls.
Senior BNP leaders including standing committee members, vice chairmen joint secretaries general and organizing secretaries attended the meeting that ended at 11:30pm.
In the last two phases of UP polls, the BNP candidates bagged only 108 chairman posts while the ruling Awami League secured over 900 posts.
