Andaleeve Partho’s BJP quits BNP-led alliance after discord over joining parliament

The Bangladesh Jatiya Party or BJP of Andaleeve Rahman Partho has broken away from the BNP-led 20-party coalition following disagreements over a good number of issues, including the decision to join parliament.

File Photo: BJP Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho addressing a BNP rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on Jan 20, 2014. File Photo: BJP Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho addressing a BNP rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on Jan 20, 2014.

File Photo: BJP chief Andaleeve Rahman Partho attends a meeting of the 20-party alliance in Dhaka on Sept 9, 2018 ahead of the parliamentary polls. File Photo: BJP chief Andaleeve Rahman Partho attends a meeting of the 20-party alliance in Dhaka on Sept 9, 2018 ahead of the parliamentary polls.

BJP Chairman Partho made the announcement in Dhaka on Monday evening in protest against the BNP’s decision to follow Dr Kamal Hossain’s Gono Forum, among other reasons.

“No, we are no longer in the coalition,” Partho told bdnews24.com.

He cited three reasons behind the decision to leave the alliance.

Firstly, the BNP was paying more attention to the Jatiya Oikya Front alliance led by Gono Forum chief Dr Kamal Hossain, two of whose party’s MPs-elect had also taken oath.

“(BNP) is doing nothing but expressing solidarity with the 20-Party Alliance’s activities,” Partho lamented.

Secondly, he said, the BNP has “lost the moral right” to reject the results of the “farcical” elections by joining parliament. He reiterated the allegation of “vote robbery” in the Dec 30 parliamentary polls last year.  

The BJP chief accused the BNP of not letting its partners in the 20-Party Alliance know about its decision to join parliament.

Partho took the helm of BJP after the death of the founder, his father Naziur Rahman Manzur in 2008.

A former MP from Bhola, Partho contested the elections this time as the Oikya Front candidate for the coveted Dhaka-17 seat with the BNP’s paddy sheaf symbol but lost to the Awami League’s Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque.

Partho is son-in-law to Sheikh Helal, son of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s brother Sheikh Naser.

File Photo: BJP chief Andaleeve Rahman Partho attends a meeting of the 20-party alliance in Dhaka on Sept 9, 2018 ahead of the parliamentary polls.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia formed the Four-Party Alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Jatiya Party and the Islami Oikya Jote in 1997 when the Awami League was in power.

When HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party left the coalition before the alliance won the 2001 elections, Manzur formed the BJP and remained in the BNP-led bloc.

As many as 16 small parties joined the alliance in 2012 and two more later.

With former prime minister Khaleda in jail and her son and the party’s acting chief Tarique Rahman in exile, the BNP and its allies in the 20-Party coalition had joined the polls this time under the umbrella of the Oikya Front.

The Oikya Front had rejected the results alleging widespread irregularities in the elections.

The alliance had said it would not join parliament, but all of its eight victorious candidates except BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have taken oath.

After the swearing-in of four BNP MPs on Apr 29, Mirza Fakhrul said they had done so on instructions from Tarique.

On Sunday, the BNP secretary general said his party had been wrong about joining parliament but Tarique did the right thing.

The BNP’s reaction to Partho’s decision to quit the bloc after the dispute over joining parliament was not available immediately.

Senior BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan, who works as the coordinator of the 20-Party Alliance, did not take phone calls for comments.