BNP needs to move forward without allies

Many BNP leaders and activists believe that the party must move forward without its partners from the 20-party Alliance and Jatiya Oikyafront.

The BNP should cut its ties with the Jatiya Oikyafront and reduce its dependency on the 20-party Alliance, key leaders said.

The party has the strength to move on, they added.

Oikyafront has been inactive after the parliamentary election and it held no programme or meeting since the election, leaders said.

Most of the BNP standing committee members agree that they should cut ties with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, but the party has yet to make a decision.

The leadership of Jatiya Oikyafront was discussed when the BNP standing committee members met Chairperson Khaleda Zia on the Eid day.

"Even though the party will not officially cut ties with any of the alliance partners it will move on," said a standing committee member, wishing not to be named.

BNP grassroots leaders and activists said that they have  strong organisational strength on union levels.

"From the very beginning, I was against the Oikyafront and I think we should sever the tie. There are ideological differences and that's why forming the platform with the partners of Oikyafront was a wrong decision. The BNP has suffered because of this platform," BNP Organising Secretary Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu told The Daily Star.

The party has strength and it should move alone leaving behind the alliance partners, they added.

When the Oikyafront front was formed, senior party leaders participated in the meetings, but after the election, there was no such activity.

Besides, the BNP leaders did not like the speech of Dr Kamal Hossain.

The rift began when Oikyafront leaders went to parliament without informing the BNP leaders.

Apart from this, the BNP leaders were frustrated that Khaleda Zia's release was not among the top agenda of the Oikyafront, said party leaders.

"Since the election, there has not been a single formal meeting of the Oikyafront. Now, the front is inactive," Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna said.

The front basically exists on paper now, he said.

Since the formation of the Oikyafront, a discomfort and distance have been created between the BNP and other members of the 20-party alliance.

The alliance leaders alleged that BNP gave more importance to the Oikyafront than the 20-party.

They said since the formation of Oikyafront, no decision was made in the alliance meeting, rather the decisions made at the Oikyafront were informed in the alliance meeting.

"Forming an alliance with the Oikyafront was a major blunder made by the BNP. I said it many times. The 20-party alliance is strong, united, and working together though there is barely any activity," said Oli Ahmed, president of Liberal Democratic Party, one of the 20 parties in the alliance.