Cases keep BNP-backed candidates at bay

BNP-backed mayor and councillor candidates cannot participate in the city polls campaigns or electoral activities properly due to the cases filed against them, a senior BNP leader said today.

They mayoral hopefuls including BNP city convener Mirza Abbas cannot fully partake in the campaigns as they are yet to secure bail in the cases, party’s international affairs secretary Asaduzzaman Ripon said.

He was addressing a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters around 11:00am.

Ripon also demanded the release of BNP Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed and its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

‘We want to go forward and pursue a new beginning where the country’s people and politics can walk hand-in-hand peacefully’, he said.

“Mirza Abbas will campaign after he secures High Court bail in the cases filed against him,” said family sources told The Daily Star today.

Abbas, who is accused in 16 cases and contesting the polls from Dhaka South City Corporation, is yet to make public appearance for campaign.