BNP men start gathering at Naya Paltan 

Leaders and activists of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have already started thronging the Naya Paltan area on Friday, where the party is scheduled to hold a grand rally on Saturday. 

They started to gather in front of the party headquarters in the morning, and the crowd increased in the afternoon as the BNP loyalists flocking to the spot in groups. 

Several hundred BNP men were staying in front of the party office until filing of this report at around 3:45 pm.

During a spot visit, Abbas Ali, a former leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of BNP, was seen requesting the crowd through a hand mike to clear the road, return home, and join the grand rally in the following morning.

However, the BNP men were not paying heed to his requests. 

The police said they would not take any action if the BNP manages to keep its activists away from the street. 

In a conversation with Prothom Alo on the party office premises, Akbar Hossain, president of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal’s Koyra upazila unit, said they reached the capital three days ago to join the rally. He came to Naya Paltan to say the Jumma prayer as well as to observe the situation.

At 4:00 pm, the crowd was seen increasing with the course of time at Naya Paltan.

The BNP sought permission to hold the rally at Naya Paltan, but the police asked them to avoid the streets and select a field or any other open places for the rally.

In response, the BNP refused to change the venue and remained adamant to hold the rally on the party office premises. However, the police also stood firm not to allow any gathering on the streets, apparently in an effort to ensure seamless movement of the city dwellers.

On the other hand, ruling Awami League also announced a 'peace and development' rally at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, and received the same response from the police.

The party also declined the police instruction and is planning to hold the rally at the intended venue.

It gave rise to a tension in the political arena over the two rallies.