Dhaka: BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman’s planned tour of the northern districts has been postponed following a request from the Election Commission (EC), party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Friday night. He made the announcement after a meeting of the party’s highest policymaking body, the National Standing Committee at the party chairman’s Gulshan office.

According to United News of Bangladesh, Mirza Fakhrul said the Standing Committee had previously decided that Tarique Rahman would visit several districts in the northern region from January 11 to pay tributes to national leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and Abu Sayeed, a martyr of the 2024 student-led mass uprising, along with other martyrs, by visiting their graves. The tour also included some of his family responsibilities. However, at the request of the Election Commission, the BNP Chairman’s tour has been postponed.

The BNP Standing Committee meeting was held with Tarique Rahman in the chair. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fak
hrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman, and Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, among others, were present.

Fakhrul alleged that a vested quarter is still conspiring to make the upcoming national election, scheduled for February, controversial and derail it. He mentioned the recent violence, including the shooting death of Osman Hadi and several BNP leaders, as evidence of this conspiracy. He emphasized that these incidents could destroy the election environment and urged the government and the Election Commission to take effective measures to preserve it.

Referring to the passing of former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, Fakhrul highlighted the significant public turnout at her namaz-e-janaza, describing it as the largest in the country’s history. On behalf of the BNP, he expressed gratitude to those who participated and thanked the a
rmed forces and law enforcement agencies for maintaining law and order during the event. Khaleda Zia passed away on December 30 last year and was laid to rest beside her husband’s grave at Zia Udyan near Parliament in the capital.