Supreme Party Headquarters: Closed doors, confused locals

As per the Election Commission data, the location of recently registered Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP) office is listed as 82 Shah Ali Bagh, Mirpur-1, Dhaka-1216.

When this correspondent reached Shah Ali Bagh, he asked locals to help him find the "BSP office". But many didn't even know such a party existed in the first place, while some were surprised that its office was in their area.

At one point, a shopkeeper named Delowar Hossain pointed towards a building and said, "Check over there, it may be that one."

He was right.

The office, however, appeared to be closed when this correspondent visited recently.

It's on the 4th floor of the building, locally known as "Khanka Sharif".

No matter how many times this correspondent asked around, most were seemingly oblivious to the existence of any political office inside the building, although the upcoming national polls are less than a month away, which BSP will be contesting in.

Upon calling out at the 4th-floor entrance to see if anyone was present, a security guard appeared, asking the correspondent who he was.

Then, he directed the correspondent to return to the ground floor and await further instructions. After a brief interval, a party activist approached, inquiring about the reporter's identity again. Finally, after a 10-minute wait, the activist gave clearance to the reporter to enter their office.

After a further 5-minute wait, Ibrahim, the office secretary, arrived and asked for the  reporter's ID and visiting cards once again. Notably, apart from Ibrahim, the security guard, and the other activist, all of whom have kept asking for the correspondent's ID card, not a single party member was visible at the office.

They claimed BSP Chairman Shahzada Syed Saifuddin Ahmed Maizbhandari's office is on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building while the ground floor is used as a garage.