Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman left Dhaka on Saturday evening for Chattogram to take part in a series of election rallies as part of the party’s nationwide campaign ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election.
Rahman departed from his Gulshan residence at 5:49 pm and proceeded to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, from where he was scheduled to fly to Chattogram on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, party sources said.
He is expected to join BNP election activities in the port city on Sunday.
According to party officials, Rahman will address a grand rally at the Polo Ground on Sunday as the chief guest. His visit to Chattogram after more than two decades has generated widespread enthusiasm among BNP leaders and activists in the city and surrounding districts.
Organisers expect a turnout of several hundred thousand people at the rally and have expressed confidence that the programme will be held peacefully and in an orderly manner.
As per the announced itinerary, Rahman will arrive in Chattogram by air on Saturday evening and stay overnight. On Sunday at 11:30 am, he will address the public meeting at the Polo Ground before leaving the city later in the afternoon.
He will then address successive rallies at 4:00 pm at Pilot School ground in Feni, at 5:30 pm at Chauddagram High School ground in Cumilla, and at 7:00 pm at Digbaji ground in Suagazi.
Later that evening, at 7:30 pm, he is also scheduled to speak at another rally at Daudkandi central Eidgah ground.
On his return journey to Dhaka, Rahman will address his final rally of the day at 11:30 pm at Kanchpur Balu ground in Narayanganj before heading back to his Gulshan residence late at night.
Tarique Rahman last visited Chattogram in 2005, when he was serving as BNP senior joint secretary general. He later spent a long period abroad. Party leaders view this visit, following his assumption of office as BNP chairman in January this year, as the beginning of a new phase in his political role.
