Leaders of all upazila units of Awami League (AL) have urged their party chief Sheikh Hasina not to allow Jatiya Party (JP) men to contest the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections as candidates of the grand alliance.

The row between BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami has widened over nomination from Kushtia-2 (Mirpur-Bheramara) as Jamaat is adamant to field its candidate in the seat bagged by BNP in last parliamentary election. A senior Jamaat leader seeking anonymity said they are demanding the seat as BNP leader Sahidul Islam is unlikely to win because of alleged corruption during his tenure.

If emergency not lifted, article 91(E)of RPO cancelled

3000 nomination forms sold, 1500 submitted

BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain collected the nomination forms from the party's Central Nayapaltan office on Wednesday, the last date of collecting and submitting of nomination papers.

The interview of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) nomination seekers will be held at 10:00am today at the party Chairperson's office at Gulshan in the city. Earlier, the sale of nomination forms ended yesterday at the BNP central office at Naya Paltan in the city.

Awami League (AL) led 14-party alliance yesterday asked the caretaker government to specify the date of withdrawal of state of emergency, following the remarks of the army chief and an adviser to the caretaker government on Tuesday.

Rival groups hold separate programmes

With BNP stalwart Saifur Rahman's reluctance to contest from Sylhet-1 (Sadar upazila and City corporation), party leaders and activists are now divided, his followers demanding his candidature from the seat and the other faction led by Ilyas Ali seeking Khaleda Zia to run in the constituency in the upcoming parliament election.

The vague statements being issued by the leaders of the two major political parties were sending confusing signals to the people though both the parties had earlier accepted the new polls schedule announced by the Election Commission (EC).

BNP Secretary General Khandker Delwar Hossain yesterday reiterated the demand for lifting the state of emergency without any delay ahead of parliamentary election on December 29.

He urged the government to lift the emergency rule immediately and abandon the Representation of People Order (RPO) Section 91 (E) for holding free and fair election in the country.

JS polls date okay, cancel UZ polls: AL

Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina has expressed the fear that the upcoming parliamentary election might be engineered.

"We have campaigned for a free and fair election and I have suspicion that the voting results might be turned around."

The former prime minister called for strict vigilance on the possibilities of vote rigging.