A Dhaka court yesterday adjourned the hearing of the Niko graft case gainst BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and eight others till March 8. Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge’s Court-9 of Dhaka passed the order after a petition was filed with the court on behalf of Khaleda, seeking an adjournment, Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder, one of her lawyers, told The Daily Star.

BNP yesterday said the draft law on the Election Commission (EC) formation will not yield any positive outcome as the party thinks it will only protect the interests of the ruling party.

The government has decided to investigate the source of BNP’s lobbying money, amounting to at least $3.75 million, that BNP spent in the last several years to campaign against Bangladesh, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam yesterday.

Just a day after he lost the election in Narayanganj City Corporation, Taimur Alam Khandakar was expelled from BNP yesterday for violating the party’s discipline.

A day after the government approved the draft of a law to form the new Election Commission through a search committee, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said the proposed law is the same old “rotten system”.

Nearly 50 years after the constitution prescribed enacting a specific law for forming Election Commission, the government has finally approved the draft of a law to appoint the chief election commissioner and other commissioners through a search committee.

The ruling Awami League yesterday placed four proposals to President Abdul Hamid including one for enacting law to form the Election Commission in line with article 118 of the constitution.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam yesterday told parliament that he has proof on how much money the BNP-Jamaat has given to US lobbying firms in the last five years.

Awami League MP Nazim Uddin Ahmed of Mymensingh-3 in parliament yesterday said lawmakers have become hostages to bureaucrats.

Six Awami League leaders have been entrusted to resolve intra-party feud in AL’s Chattogram city unit.

The president’s dialogue on the formation of the next Election Commission has become almost insignificant and lost its importance as multiple major political parties boycotted it one after another, said political analysts and parties.

Awami League-backed candidate Selina Hayat Ivy has won in the mayoral race for the third consecutive time as results of vote counts from the centres were revealed in the Narayanganj City Corporation election held today.

Independent mayoral aspirant Taimur Alam Khandaker has said while there has not been any report of untoward incident in the Narayanganj City Corporation election held today, it remains to be seen if there was any “internal engineering”.

Urging all Awami League leaders and workers to remain alert against anti-state conspiracy, Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said conspirators have chosen social media as a platform for spreading propaganda from abroad.

The BNP has decided to reschedule its 32 rallies in different districts due to a sharp rise in Covid infection rate.

BNP has decided to reschedule the 32 meetings and rallies of the party which were scheduled to take place within January 22.

The president should use his “moral authority” to send ailing BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia abroad for better treatment and take measures to enact a law in line with the constitution on the next Election Commission’s formation, Bangladesh Kalyan Party proposed while holding dialogue yesterday.

Ten BNP activists sustained minor injuries as a portion of a rally stage in CDA Residential Area Field in Chattogram broke down all of a sudden while they were delivering speeches yesterday.

President Abdul Hamid yesterday said he will take measures to ensure a free, fair and credible national election at a dialogue with Islamic Front Bangladesh, said Syed Bahadur Shah Mujaddedi, chairman of IFB.

BNP has expressed doubt over whether the government has imposed fresh restrictions, including on public gatherings, to stop their rallies and meetings.