BNP will hold a rally on Saturday in front of the party's Nayapaltan headquarters demanding the release of its Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

It will also hold rallies in cities and districts across the country on July 1 and 3 respectively to press home the same demand.

Party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the programme after holding the party's joint meeting with the front and associate bodies at the party's central office.

"Khaleda Zia is seriously ill and her life is at risk. But she was denied better treatment showing legal excuses. That's why we announced protest programmes," Fakhrul said.

Khaleda Zia is undergoing treatment at the capital's Evercare Hospital since Friday. A pacemaker was implanted in her chest.

Earlier, when Khaleda went to Evercare Hospital on May 1 for a regular health check-up, doctors treated her at the CCU for two days.

The former prime minister, 79, has long battled various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lung, heart, and eyes.

Since her conditional release from prison in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving medical care repeatedly at the hospital under the supervision of a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.

Khaleda's doctors have been advising sending her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.

On October 26, last year, three US specialist doctors completed a hepatic procedure known as the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accumulation in Khaleda's stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.