BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday alleged that the government was attempting to arrange a stage-managed one-sided election again, keeping the party out of the electoral process.

"No election will be acceptable if Khaleda Zia is not allowed to join it," Fakhrul said in his instant reaction to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's statement that the government had nothing to do if the BNP boycotted the polls.

"The government wants to hold a unilateral election in a bid to score goals in an empty field." 

The BNP leader was talking to reporters at the party chief Khaleda's Gulshan office hours after the prime minister addressed a press conference at the Gono Bhaban yesterday.

About a remark by the PM on the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case,

Fakhrul said, "Keeping guns on the shoulder of the judiciary, the government has framed and convicted Khaleda Zia in a false case”.

The government would not be able to establish democracy in the country and win hearts of people by deceiving them, he said.

Reacting to the prime minister's criticism over dropping section VII from the party charter of the BNP, Fakhrul said no major change was brought to the party's constitution by bringing in amendments.

"I can't understand why they are [ruling quarter] having a headache over the BNP's constitution and its chairman,” he said.

Responding to a query, Fakhrul said the party's senior vice chairman would be its acting chairman in absence of the chairperson according to the party constitution. Accordingly, Tarique Rahman was made the acting chairman, he said.

"This matter is not lined with the government. It is our own matter and the decision has been made in the party's council," Fakhrul said.

Asked about the BNP's next course of action to free Khaleda from jail, he said an appeal petition would be submitted to the High Court this week.

A Dhaka court handed Khaleda a five-year imprisonment in the corruption case on February 8. She is now in jail.