BNP leaders irate over 'underhand dealings'

Many BNP policymakers last night expressed resentment about the alleged underhand financial dealings in picking union parishad chairman candidates and forming some new committees of the party.

The BNP leaders were in a meeting of the party standing committee, with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair at her Gulshan office in the city.

They said such incidents tainted the party's image at home and abroad, according to meeting sources.

The leaders suggested that the BNP chief should look into the matter and take actions against those involved in such corrupt activities.

However, Khaleda and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir dismissed the allegations as propaganda by the government to defame the party.

The meeting also decided that the party will contest the last two phases of the UP polls although massive irregularities by the ruling Awami League men have been reported.

The BNP did not brief the media about the outcome of the two-hour meeting of the party's highest policymaking body that started around 9:00pm.

"Most of the committee members talked about the alleged exchange of money for awarding posts in different party committees formed recently," a BNP standing committee member told The Daily Star seeking  anonymity.

BNP leaders also expressed anger over the alleged selection of UP chairman candidates in exchange for money, he added.

A standing committee member alleged that a section of BNP leaders in the party chief's Gulshan office and its Nayapaltan central office were involved in such activities.

"We argued that the party chief should form a committee to identify those involved in such practices and take necessary action against them," another standing committee member told this correspondent.