Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday claimed that the government had begun to bow down to the demand for immediate national election under a non-party caretaker administration.
Citing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Thursday's briefing Fakhrul Islam said, "The PM said the next polls can be held anytime through a democratic process - this proves that she has begun to surrender to the people's demand."
The BNP leader made such comments while addressing a press conference after a joint party meeting held at Nayapaltan central office in the capital.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister spoke to media about her UAE visit.  She told reporters that the government had the right to hold the next general election anytime under democratic procedures.
Fakhrul Islam said that the party was also gearing up for a "harsher anti-government movement" to press for its demand for the next general election under a non-party administration.
He, however, declined to comment on a Facebook post where Abdullahel Aman Azmi, Golum Azam's son, termed BNP's 'silence' over Ghuma's death "unexpected and unacceptable".
Azmi also expressed astonishment at the Jamaat-e-Islami ally's 'ungratefulness'. Fakhrul Islam said, "It's his personal opinion. So, we won't take it into consideration."
Azmi, however, on Friday expressed regrets on a Facebook status on Friday for his comment on Thursday.
"We have an alliance with the Jamaat to organise a movement to establish a people's government through an election," he said.
The BNP leader said, "The Jamaat has not commented on the matter. So, we are not prepared to say anything about it (Azmi's comment)."
Meanwhile, the BNP plans to hold a rally on November 8 to mark the "National Revolution and Solidarity Day".
 "We have taken an initiative to stage the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan to mark the historic November 7. We expect the government's cooperation in this regard," Fakhrul said.
The BNP will observe the November 7, with elaborate programmes for ten days marking the civil-military "uprising" that led to release of the then army chief and founder of the party Ziaur Rahman in 1975.