A day after the BNP announced a rally to protest against the January 5, 2014 national elections, the ruling Awami League yesterday declared that it will demonstrate on the election day to mark "the victory of democracy". 

The BNP deems the election day to be "a black day when democracy was killed". It has already sought permission from the authorities for holding a rally in protest on January 7 at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital. 

The ruling party, however, has drawn a chart of programmes including demonstrations at two places in Dhaka to celebrate the third anniversary of the elections.

One rally will be held at Russel Square of Dhanmondi and the other near the party's Bangabandhu Avenue office, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Haque Hanif told The Daily Star.

At a meeting of the ruling party and its front organisations, they decided to organise similar programmes at district- and upazila-levels as well.  

"January 5 heralds the continuation of democracy in Bangladesh," Hanif said after the meeting.

Since the one-sided general elections, the opposition BNP has been observing the day every year as a black day.  

On Wednesday, its Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed announced that the party would hold several programmmes this time including processions, in which party members and leaders would wear black badges and carry black flags.

The last parliamentary elections were much disputed after the BNP boycotted them. The country witnessed widespread violence centring on the polls.

On the first anniversary, the BNP and its allies enforced nearly a ceaseless blockade and hartal for the first three months of the year. Street violence left at least 95 people killed and about 1,000 others injured, mostly in targeted arson attacks on public transports. 

On the second anniversary, the party held a rally in the capital. It  did not call hartal. Both the ruling party and the opposition held  rallies in the capital on two different dates.