Opposition distributes poll-boycott leaflets defying EC warning 

The BNP and other opposition parties, demanding a non-partisan polls-time government, distributed leaflets across the country on 23 December, including in the capital, urging people to abstain from going to the polling centres on 7 January and thus boycott the upcoming general elections.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganatantra Mancha, the 12-party Alliance, the Nationalist Like-Minded Alliance, the LDP, the AB Party, and other like-minded political groups also participated in the election boycott campaign.

The anti-election campaign met with a stern warning from the Election Commission (EC), which is geared up to conduct the polls amid the boycott by the BNP and other opposition parties.

"If any leaflets are distributed to discourage voters from going to polling stations, action will be taken on sight," warned Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman on Saturday.

Defying the warning, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, while distributing leaflets in Dhaka's Rampura and Shahjahanpur, once again called on citizens to actively participate in the opposition's "non-cooperation movement" and boycott the upcoming polls.

"Do not go to the polling stations on 7 January. Tell others not to go. Boycott this election," Rizvi urged voters.

Earlier in the morning, BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan distributed election boycott leaflets during a programme at the National Press Club.

"The current fascist government will be ousted by the announced non-cooperation movement," he said at the event.

In areas such as Lalbagh, Gendaria, Banshal, Chawkbazar, Hazaribagh, Jatrabari, Sutrapur, Dhanmondi, Newmarket, Shahbagh, Khilgaon, and Wari, BNP leaders and activists distributed mass campaign materials and leaflets in favour of the boycott and non-cooperation movement in crowded places.

Outside Dhaka, BNP activists distributed leaflets urging an abstention from voting in every district.

The Jamaat-e-Islami conducted similar programmes across the country, including the capital, where the party also distributed leaflets.

The programmes took place in areas such as Badda, Shewrapara, Gulshan, Mohammadpur, Moghbazar, Tejgaon, Jafrabad, Bailey Road, Shanir Akhra, Bangshal, Kadmatoli, Sutrapur, Sadarghat, Jatrabari, Hazaribagh, and Kamrangirchar.

Gono Odhikar Parishad Convenor Reza Kibria urged the people not to go for votes, claiming the election had already been rigged.

"This vote is not the real vote; the real vote has taken place in the Gonobhaban. Everyone should stay home on 7 January," he said at a leaflet distribution rally in front of the Jatiya Press Club.

On Saturday at 11:30am in the Fakirapool intersection, Nayapaltan, and Kakrail areas of the capital, a mass campaign was conducted and leaflets were distributed by the 12-party alliance to create public opinion in favour of a boycott of what it called a one-sided election and non-cooperation movement.

On the same day at noon, the leaders of the "nationalist like-minded alliance" started distributing leaflets to people in front of the National Press Club in the capital and went to Motijheel Shapla Chattar through Dainik Bangla square calling for the boycott and non-cooperation movement.

The Left Democratic Alliance began campaigning in the capital in the afternoon, calling for the boycott of 'one-sided' elections. The leaders of the party distributed leaflets and exchanged views with the common people from Purana Paltan intersection in the capital to Shantinagar.

The leaders of the Ganatantra Mancha distributed leaflets in the morning in the National Press Club area. The AB Party held a protest march and distributed leaflets from Paltan to the Nightingale area, demanding a boycott of the election.