BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is likely to visit London after Eid-ul-Fitr as part of her follow-up treatment and to meet her elder son and granddaughter, according to party sources. A senior vice-chairman of the party, preferring anonymity, told The Independent that Khaleda was going to London after the Eid for her health check-up and to meet her elder son. “The chairperson is going to the UK after the Eid. As far as I know, she will leave Dhaka for London on July 10,” he added. When contacted, BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said that he, too, had learnt about the chairperson’s planned visit to London, but did not know the exact date of her departure. “I have heard that the chairperson will go to London, but I am yet to know the exact date of her departure,” he added.
Replying to a question, the elderly leader said if the chairperson went to London, she would place the party’s proposal on the election-time supportive government after returning to the country.
The BNP chairperson’s special assistant, Shimul Biswas, said the date of Khaleda’s departure for London was yet to be finalised.
“We will let you (journalists) know about her travel after the confirmation of the date of her departure,” he added.
During her visit to London, Khaleda will consult the party’s senior vice-chairman and her elder son Tarique Rahman on the latest political developments in Bangladesh, the party’s next course of action and its possible candidates in the next general election, party sources said.
The former premier was supposed to visit London eight months after her last visit there for follow-up medical consultation and treatment.
But she was unable to do so even after one-and-half years due to her preoccupation with the party’s organisational matters, said sources.
The party is supposed to place its demand for an election-time supportive government to conduct the next general elections after Eid. But if Khaleda Zia goes to London after the festival, she would place the planned proposal after her return from the UK, the sources added.
Khaleda went to London on September 15, 2015, for treatment and returned home on November 11 the same year after being treated for her eye and knees problems. She had also celebrated Eid-ul-Azha there with the families of her elder son Tarique Rahman and her deceased younger son Arafat Rahman Koko.