The left-leaning parties will be staging an eight-hour hartal starting from 6am today to protest the recent power price hike. Ganatantrik Bam Morcha, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Socialist Party of Bangladesh (BSD) jointly called the hartal on November 23. Meanwhile, BNP has extended its ‘full support’ to the strike protesting the power price hike.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced his party’s support to the strike from a human chain organised by Swadhinata Forum in front of the National Press Club yesterday.

“The left parties called the strike protesting the latest increase in power prices. The BNP is extending its full support to it,” he said.  

On November 23, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) raised power tariff by 5.3 percent or Tk. 0.35 per unit on an average, to be effective from December.