The disgruntled members of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal have been staging a sit-in protest in front of the BNP central office urging the party to reverse the expulsion order for 12 JCD leaders and scrap the age limit for election candidacy.
The expelled JCD leaders led a procession from Scout Bhaban in Kakrail to the BNP office in Naya Paltan at 11.30am on Monday.
They also chanted slogans for the release of Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.
On Jun 23, the JCD election committee announced the date for the new council election. The draft voter list is scheduled to be published on Monday.
The election committee members, including Khairul Kabir Khokon, Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie and Amirul Islam Khan Alim, and former students leaders and hundreds of activists are stationed at the BNP central office.
The election for the posts of JCD president and general secretary will be held on Jul 15. The venue for polling stations is yet to be determined, bdnews24.com.
The BNP has expelled 12 Chhatra Dal leaders over defying the party discipline on Sunday, the party said in a statement signed by Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The expelled leaders are Dhaka University wing of JCD General Secretary Bashar Siddique, president of JCD Dhaka Metropolitan South wing Zahiruddin Tuhin, vice president of the dissolved Chhatra Dal committee Ezmal Hossain Pilot, Ikhtiar Kabir, Joydeb Joy, Mamun Billah, former joint general secretary Asaduzzaman Asad, Bayezid Arefin, former deputy general secretary Dabir Uddin Tushar, former deputy organising secretary Golan Azam Shaikat, Abdul Malek and former committee member Azim Patwary.
They will continue their protest unless the age limit for candidacy is scrapped, the protesters said in a statement on Saturday. The election committee has announced the schedule after the disgruntled members began to stage protests and the 12 leaders were expelled.
The BNP had dissolved the expired committee of Chhatra Dal on Jun 3. It decided to elect the president and the general secretary through a council election within next 45 days.
The last JCD committee was formed on Oct 14, 2014 with 153 members, including Rajib Ahsan as the president and Akramul Hasan as the general secretary.
A full-fledged committee was formed later.