The divisional mass rally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has begun at at the Rangpur Collector Eidgah ground in the city through reciting from the Qur’an at about 12:15pm, about one hour and 45 minutes before the scheduled time.

Leaders from different districts of the division delivered their speech in the grand rally presided over by Rangpur city BNP convener Shamsuzzaman.

The party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other senior leaders from Dhaka, who reached Rangpur on Friday night, appeared on the stage at about 2:00pm.

Meanwhile, thousands of leaders and activists of the party reached the rally ground, defying obstacles on roads.

As the buses are off the roads due to a 36-hour transport strike called by Rangpur district Motor Owners Association since Friday 6:00am in Rangpur, the party activists from other districts came to the rally ground since early Friday by auto-rickshaws, rickshaws, engine-vans, bicycles, trains and even on foot, the party leaders said.

As a result, hundreds of party leaders and activists from eight neighbouring districts, including Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Panchagarh, arrived in the city by Friday evening and the arrival of the activists on the rally venue continued throughout the night. They passed the night in the venue at the Rangpur Collector Eidgah ground in the city under open sky.

The rally ground was filled with the party leaders and activists when the rally begun. The activists came to the Rangpur Collector Eidgah ground with processions carrying posters of the party founder Ziaur Rahman, chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman.

The party leaders and activists continued to arrive in the venue even after beginning the rally.

No inter-district buses left Rangpur after Friday morning, while no buses reached the city from other districts.

The city is virtually cut off from other parts of the country.

Though the buses and trucks were off the roads on Friday and Saturday, a good number of party leaders and activists from Dinajpur, Panchagarah, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram reached Rangpur by train, the party leaders said.

Many leaders alleged that they had to face police checking on the way.

A number of BNP activists told New Age that they took position in Rangpur city and its adjacent areas in advance to avert possible obstruction and harassment by their ruling party counterparts and law enforcers.

BNP vice-chairman and the coordinator of the Rangpur divisional mass rally AZM Jahid Hossain  said that tens of thousands of people had already reached the rally ground defying all the obstacles set by the police and ruling party men.

He said that the Rangpur city had turned into a city of procession and rally as the ground had filled up with people and spread outside it.

The last BNP mass rally was held in Khulna on October 22 amid bus and launch strikes, attacks, arrests, and intimidation, while no trawlers, ferries, or boats were allowed to anchor in jetties near the city.

Ahead of the pre-scheduled Khulna divisional rally, the Khulna bus owners’ association stopped running buses from October 21 morning to October 22 afternoon, protesting against the movement of unauthorised three-wheelers on the highways.

A similar announcement was made on Tuesday for a strike for two days in Barishal ahead of the BNP’s mass rally on November 5.

On September 28, the BNP announced plans to hold mass rallies in the divisional city headquarters for the next two months as part of its ongoing movement demanding the resignation of the AL-led government and the release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, protesting at the abnormal increase in the price of fuel oil and daily commodities and the killing of BNP leaders and activists.

As per the schedule announced by the party, it organized rallies in Chattogram on October 12, Mymensingh on October 15, and Khulna on October 22, and their next rallies are scheduled for Barishal on November 5, Faridpur on November 12, Sylhet on November 19, Cumilla on November 26, Rajshahi on December 3 and Dhaka on December 10.