Bangladesh Elections: In Hasina vs Zia battle tensions rise as opposition parties start 48-hour strike

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Bangladesh Elections: On the eve of the much controversial general elections, opposition parties in Bangladesh have started a 48-hour general strike, citing incumbent Prime Minister and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina's inability to guarantee fairness in the poll process. Many opposition parties have boycotted the Bangladesh elections, scheduled to be held on Sunday, 7 January. Sheikh Hasina is seeking to return to power for a fourth consecutive term.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former premier Khaleda Zia, has vowed to disrupt the election through the strike and boycott. On Saturday morning, a small group of party supporters marched across the Shahbagh neighborhood in the capital, Dhaka, calling on people to join the strike. Another rally by about 200 left-wing protesters took place outside the National Press Club to denounce the election.

The Election Commission said ballot boxes and other election supplies had been distributed in preparation for the vote on Sunday in over 42,000 precincts. There are more than 119 million registered voters. Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a BNP senior official, repeated his party's demand for Hasina to resign, calling the election “skewed." “The government is again playing with fire.

The government has resorted to its old tactics of holding a one-sided election," he said. Campaigning in the nation of 169 million people has been marred with violence, with at least 15 people killed since October. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters on Saturday that the parliamentary election would be free and fair, adding, “We want our election to be observed not only nationally, but internationally as well." Responding to questions on the main opposition