The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Expelled BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan yesterday accused detained party chairperson Khaleda Zia of violating jail code through filing the writ challenging validity of the Election Commission's impugned invitation for dialogue.

"For being confined to custody, the jail code does not permit her to file the writ petition and get involved in political matters through seeking court recognition of Khandaker Delwar Hossain as secretary general of BNP," Bhuiyan told the High Court while contesting the case as an additional respondent.

Countering an oblique remark of the counsel for Khaleda having dubbed 'midnight coup' the October 29 standing-committee meeting, he claimed that there was a standing committee of BNP that passed a resolution stating that the committee did not give approval to his expulsion from the party.

On September 2 last year, hours before her arrest in connection with a corruption case under the purge in the interim period, the immediate-past premier had sacked her reformist secretary general, Mannan Bhuiyan, on charge of anti-party activities and handpicked Khandaker Delwar Hossain in his place.

Bhuiyan, the harbinger of reform in BNP, mentioned that the meeting also had decided that Delwar would be relieved of his post of secretary general on grounds of his ill health and in his place party vice-chairman Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed would be the acting secretary general.

The meeting further decided that in the absence of party chairperson, senior-most member of the standing committee M Saifur Rahman would be acting chairperson of BNP, Bhuiyan contended in his written deposition.