The student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, staged a sit-in on Sunday morning in front of the Election Commission (EC) office in Agargaon, Dhaka. The protest was organized to denounce alleged bias in postal ballot management for the upcoming parliamentary election and to oppose several controversial EC decisions. As of the time of reporting, the sit-in was ongoing, and the organization planned to submit a memorandum to the commission.

Chhatra Dal president Rakibul Islam Rakib accused the EC of acting under the influence of a particular political party, claiming that the commission’s actions were intended to undermine his organization. He further alleged that the EC played a similar role in the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology student union election as it did in the Jagannath University polls.

The group’s three main complaints include biased and questionable EC decisions on postal ballots, decisions made under political pressure that undermine the commission’s independence, and a controversial directive regarding the Shahjalal University student election that they say threatens democratic practices on campus.