BNP to let its leaders contest in Union Parishad polls as independent candidates

The BNP will not bar its leaders from contesting in union council elections as independent candidates after the boycott of recent local government polls.

Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir says it is against the rules allowing political parties to field contestants in local government elections.

The party stayed away from the recently held Upazila council vote after alleging widespread irregularities in parliamentary polls it lost by a huge margin to the Awami League by the end of last year.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of its policymakers at the chairperson’s Gulshan offices in Dhaka on Friday, Mirza Fakhrul said they were facing questions from grassroots leaders over whether to contest in union council polls.

“We had earlier objected to holding local government elections on party lines because it will create political problems. We still hold that view,” he said.

“In that case, our decision is to let the union council chairmen or other leaders and activists contest in the elections, but we won’t assign our party symbol to them,” he added.