BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir claimed that the Awami League was conspiring to ensure the victory of expelled BNP leader Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan in the Brahmanbaria-2 by-polls slated for tomorrow.

"As long as the Awami League is in power there cannot be a fair election, because the ruling party has complete control over the electoral system," he said yesterday at the second anti-government march.

On December 10 last year, seven BNP lawmakers, including Sattar announced their resignations from parliament at the party's Golapbagh rally in the capital.

On January 1, BNP expelled Sattar from the party as he collected a nomination form from the Election Commission to run as an independent in the by-polls.

Addressing yesterday's programme organised by the Dhaka City South BNP, Fakhrul said, "Now the ruling party is doing everything to make him [Sattar] win. The AL candidate has been forced to withdraw his nomination papers and an independent candidate has been missing for three days. This is the current state of the election.

"The Awami League government has lost its ground. They are getting more and more disconnected from the people each day."

Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's remark on Sunday that the Awami League never flees, Fakhrul said, "Everyone knows who fled the country after being arrested during the 1/11 [government]."

It was the BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia who did not leave the country at that time.

"She clearly said, 'I have no place abroad. This is my country. I was born here… Even if I die, I will die here…'," Fakhrul said, quoting Khaleda.

He also warned the ruling party against considering BNP's peaceful programmes as "weakness". "A strong resistance will be put up if our programme faces obstruction."

In response to AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader's remark about BNP's "death march", Fakhrul said the march was a "victory march of democracy."

"This is our victory march to win back people's rights."

The BNP would achieve its ultimate victory by "ousting" the current government through peaceful programmes.

As part of its four-day programme, BNP leaders and activists marched yesterday from Jatrabari to Jurain to press home their 10-point demand, including holding the next general election under a nonpartisan caretaker government.