BNP slams government for its plan for mayoral polls in Dhaka North

BNP stalwart Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has slammed the government for its “prompt attempt” to elect a new mayor to the Dhaka North City Corporation following the death of Annisul Huq.

“He (Annisul Huq) has just been laid to rest. I do not think it is decent to plan for the polls at this stage,” said Rizvi, the senior joint secretary general of BNP, at a press conference in Dhaka on Monday.

Huq, who was elected the first mayor of Dhaka North in 2015, died on Thursday at a London hospital, where he was being treated for almost four months.

The 65-year-old had served a little more than half of his five-year term before he passed away. He was diagnosed with cerebral vasculitis— inflammation of the blood vessel wall involving the brain.

The local government ministry issued an order declaring the post of Dhaka North City mayor vacant on Monday.

The Election Commission will have to hold by-polls to elect a new mayor in 90 days, which is Feb 28.

During the press conference, Rizvi came down hard on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over her visit to Cambodia.

“She spends millions to fly to Cambodia, only to inaugurate a street named after her father, while the country is beset with corrupt and autocratic practices of the powerful,” the senior leader said.

He accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her team of looting the exchequer only to establish the names of their kin.

He criticised the government for not visiting China and India to solve the Rohingya crisis, as suggested by the BNP.

He condemned police’s intervention in BNP’s demonstration against an arrest warrant issued against party chief Khaleda Zia.