BNP leaders currently in jail were offered release if they participated in the January 7 national election, said Awami League Presidium Member and Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque.

However, the BNP did not accept the proposal, he added.

Abdur Razzaque made the remarks during an interview with the Channel 24, a private TV channel. The interview was published on Channel 24's YouTube channel today.

Abdur Razzaque said in response to a question, "Had the 20,000 BNP leaders and activists not been arrested, would you have seen the cars that are plying the streets today amid hartal? We had no other alternatives. Whatever we did, we did thoughtfully."

He also said, "They [BNP] were repeatedly told by the Election Commission that if they join the polls, the schedule will be deferred. Not only deferred, it was said that they would be released from jail."

The BNP claims that more than 20,000 leaders and activists of the party were arrested since its grand rally in Dhaka on October 28.

Police launched the operation after clashes centring the BNP's grand rally in Dhaka, which was foiled.

Many of the party's central leaders, including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, are now in jail.

The BNP, its likeminded parties and the Islami Andolon Bangladesh are boycotting the election.