The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is planning to adopt a hardline approach against the construction of the Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans, which the party leaders claimed would be disastrous for the environment. Party chairperson Khaleda Zia is preparing to hold a press conference on the issue and announce a protest programme against the Bangladesh-India joint project, the leaders said. The BNP has been talking about launching an issue-based movement for some time. The party is going to start with a protest against the 1,320-MW Rampal power plant, which has stirred widespread debate among experts, environmentalists and the general public. A senior party leader, preferring anonymity, told The Independent that the newly-formed standing committee of the party discussed the issue at its first meeting on Thursday.
The meeting decided that the party chairperson would hold a press conference on the Rampal project sometime this week and a course of action would be announced after holding a meeting with the 20-Party Alliance, scheduled for Sunday, said the leader.
He said the leaders were discussing the outlines of a possible programme, including a long march to Rampal in Bagerhat and demonstrations across the country, protesting against the construction close to the Sundarbans. Standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told this correspondent that Thursday’s meeting had decided to raise the party’s voice loud and clear on national issues and organise movements on them. He added that no programme has been taken up on the Rampal issue yet.
Replying to a question, the former minister said the BNP chairperson would hold a meeting with leaders of the 20-Party Alliance to seek their opinion before taking any decision on the next course of action. Another standing committee member, Brig. Gen. (retd) ASM Hannan Shah, said, “The BNP would take a hardline approach on the construction of coal-fired Rampal power plant.” Asked whether the party was planning to launch any movement against the plant, he replied in the affirmative. “The chairperson is preparing a fact-sheet on the Rampal power plant on the basis of opinions from experts and relevant data,” he said. He thinks the party chairperson is scheduled to address a press conference this week.  Party insiders said the party has opted to launch an issue-based movement in order to involve the public in its programme to a greater extent. Their past movements demanding a free and fair election under a non-partisan, caretaker government had failed miserably because of the lack of public enthusiasm and participation, they said.