Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the announcement at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office on Saturday.

“We’ll hold a rally either in front of our Nayapaltan central office or Jatiya Press Club tomorrow (Sunday) at 2pm with the demand for the release of Khaleda Zia,” he said.

The BNP leader said they have already sent a letter to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) authorities seeking permission to stage the programme at any of the two venues.

He called upon their party leaders and activists to make the rally a success with their spontaneous participation.

A party leader wishing anonymity said they will hold the rally at Nayapaltan, no matter whether they are given permission or not. 

On November 19, the party announced to stage rallies across the country, including in the capital, today (Saturday), demanding Khaleda’s release.

Replying to a question, Rizvi said the DMP authorities requested them to reschedule their rally in the city for another day as Jubo League’s council is being held today at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital. “That’s why we decided to hold our rally tomorrow (Sunday).

He said Khaleda Zia’s health condition is deteriorating day by day, but the government is neither taking any step for her release on bail nor her proper treatment out of its ‘political vengeance’.

Rizvi said a question is now surfacing in public mind whether the head of ‘the government is going ahead fast to implement the blue design of killing Khaleda’.

He alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has kept Khaleda in jail on ‘false and fabricated charges as she cannot tolerate immense popularity’ of the BNP chief. 

Khaleda has been in jail since she was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. She was found guilty in another corruption case later the same year, though her party claims both cases are politically motivated.

The BNP chief has been receiving treatment at the BSMMU since April 1 this year.