The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s divisional rally in Cumilla began at the Town Hall premises in the city on Saturday morning as thousands of the opposition party leaders and activists from different districts of the party’s organisational division joined the rally in a festive mood.

The rally, organised by the Cumilla city unit of BNP as a part of central BNP announced programme, began at about 11:30am with the party’s Cumilla south district unit BNP convener Amin-ur-Rashid Yasin in the chair. The rally began through recitation from the Quran.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will address the rally as the chief guest. The party’s senior leaders, including standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas and Nazrul Islam Khan and vice-chairman Barkat Ullah Bhulu, are expected to address in the rally.

The venue was filled with the opposition leaders and activists by 10:00am on Saturday and the crowd also spread in the roads of surrounding areas including Pubali chattar, Ranirbazar road, Badurtala, Victoria College Road and Stadium area.

Cumilla is an organisational division of the BNP.

The party leaders and activists from distant districts of the organisational division reached Cumilla since Friday morning and passed the night at the venue, its surrounding areas and at the homes of their relatives and known ones.

Since Saturday morning, the party leaders and activists began to march towards the rally venue from different areas with processions carrying posters, placards, banners and portraits of the party founder Ziaur Rahman, party chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman.

Some of them came to the rally venue with band party and wearing same coloured t-shirts and caps.

The party leaders and activists continued to march towards the venue even after beginning the rally.

They BNP leaders and activists were seen chanting slogans to press home their demands and denouncing the government.

The entire city of Cumilla wore a festive look with colourful banners, festoons, posters and billboards set up on the occasion of the rally.

To ensure security of the rally, additional police forces were deployed at all the city entry points including Kandirpar Pubali Chattar, Modern High School, Dharmapur railgate, Shashangachha railgate and Chawkbazar.

This is the eighth divisional rally of the main opposition party and the third one that the BNP is going to hold without any transport strike in effect.

There was no transport strike during divisional rallies in Chattogram and Mymensingh. So far, the BNP has organised divisional rallies in Khulna, Rangpur, Barishal and Faridpur (another BNP organisational division) where party leaders and activists encountered formidable obstacles, including transport strikes and police cases, to join the programmes.

The organisers said the rally was meant to denounce the price hike of daily essentials and fuel, the death of five party activists in police action in Bhola, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Brahmanbaria and Jashore, and to ensure the freedom of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

BNP has long been demanding that the next general election be held under a caretaker government, not under any political government – a demand rejected by the ruling Awami League as the constitution does not allow it.

As part of the move to continue the pace of its ongoing movement, BNP on September 27 announced a series of public rallies in 10 divisional cities.

BNP will conclude the divisional rallies through a mass gathering in Dhaka city on December 10.