The BNP has deferred its yesterday's rally until November 13 after being granted last minute permission from the police to stage the rally on 27 conditions.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Monday gave permission to the BNP for holding the rally at Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) although the party sought to use VIP Road in front of its Nayapaltan headquarters.

The party, however, rejected the last minute permission.

Speaking at a press conference at the party office, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said the government "violated the constitution" by denying it permission to hold the rally to mark the "National Revolution and Solidarity Day".

"We again call upon the government to allow us to stage the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on November 13," he said.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addresses a press conference at the headquarters. Photo: Amran Hossain

The BNP repeatedly changed the programme schedule and sought permission from police as it believes in democracy, added Fakhrul.

The DMP in a letter said the BNP could hold a "discussion programme" yesterday afternoon, but the party must abide by 27 conditions.

According to the letter, the permission was granted only for hosting the "discussion programme" and not for using the venue. The BNP would have to seek permission separately from the IEB for using the venue and it must confine the programme activities within the confines of the IEB auditorium.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed said, "We don't want to hold the programme indoors at Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh."

The party did not receive the DMP's letter till 10:00pm last night, he told this correspondent.

BNP leaders said they came to know about the police permission in the afternoon through TV channels. The DMP asked the party to end the rally by 4:30pm.

However, DMP Deputy Commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman claimed they sent the letter to the BNP on Monday.

The DMP on previous occasions set conditions on holding rallies by the BNP-led opposition alliance. It had imposed 11 conditions and gave 19 directives to the alliance for staging a rally on March 12, 2012. The combine had to organise rallies on October 25, 2013 and May 28, 2014 under 13 and 20 conditions.  

Asked about the BNP's November 13 programme, DMP official Masud said if the party files a fresh application with them, they would make a decision after considering security issues.

Some BNP leaders said they were surprised at the police's decision about not allowing the party to use the VIP Road at Nayapaltan.

The DMP on November 3 announced that no political party would be allowed to hold rallies at Suhrawardy Udyan on November 7 or 8 for security reasons.

Later, the BNP applied for using the VIP Road as yesterday's meeting venue. In a letter to the BNP, the Dhaka South City Corporation on Monday said it would be illegal if the party held a rally at Nayapaltan without the corporation's permission.

Meanwhile, a heavy deployment of police was seen in front of the BNP headquarters yesterday afternoon. Law enforcers restricted BNP men's access to the office. They only allowed senior party leaders and journalists in the office.