'BNP won't contest DNCC, upazila council polls'

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will not take part in the upcoming mayoral by-polls of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and elections to upazila councils.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the decision of boycotting the elections after a meeting of the party's standing committee members on Thursday evening.

"BNP will never participate in any election under this government," he told newsmen after the meeting held at BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office in the capital.

Fakhrul also said that they took the decision considering the 'experiences' the party encountered during the 30-December 11th parliamentary election. The BNP rejected the results of 11th parliamentary elections, bringing allegations of vote rigging. The party has been demanding a fresh election under a neutral administration. The ruling Awami League and its allies won 288 seats out of 299 while BNP won in six constituencies.   

BNP will also boycott Kishoreganj-1 by-polls and Gaibandha-3 constituencies, Fakhrul added.  

The DNCC mayoral by-polls are supposed to be held on 28 February. Following this, upazila council elections will be conducted in March, according to the election commission.