Jatiya Party (JP) chief Hussein Muhammad Ershad has spoken in favour of initiating national poll dialogues in parliament, a senior party leader has said.
Ershad spoke his mind on the poll dialogues during an hour-long visit to ruling Awami League chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office on Tuesday, a leader attending the meeting said.
JP presidium members Anisul Islam Mahmud and Ziauddin Bablu accompanied the former president to the prime minister.
"Discussions or dialogues, whatever you call it, the opposition will have to start it and start it in parliament", he quoted Hasina as saying.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also emphasised on the need for talks between the government and the opposition to resolve political differences, during her recent Bangladesh visit. Foreign diplomats and businessmen operating in Bangladesh have also been making similar appeals.
BNP, which has been pressing for reinstatement of the caretaker government provision, said that they were ready for the talks. However, one of the party's senior leaders, Moudud Ahmed, said on Tuesday that the government should initiate the talks.
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Jatiya Party chairman Hussein Muhammad Ershad on Monday accused India of illegally taking control of water of the common river Feni.
Just before starting a road march towards Feni district, Ershad also urged all to protest against such Indian move by rising above narrow partisan views.
"The Feni river is ours. No other (country) has right to this river," Ershad, a key ally of the ruling Awami League, told a street rally in the city's Banani Model Town.
A motorcade of around 250 vehicles started for Feni around 9:30am.
"There has been a plot to turn Feni, Mirsarai of Chittagong, Fatikchharhi, Khagrachharhi, Ramgarh, Noakhali and Comilla into deserts," Ershad said.
The river Feni was recognised as a common river in 2005 at a meeting of the Joint River Commission (JRC) in Dhaka.
The river originates in Tripura and makes a common border of 87 kilometres with Bangladesh. After travelling about 90 kilometres in Tripura, it flows into Bangladesh.
The controversy over the river's share of water remains unsolved for long allegedly because of India's reluctance to strike a deal with Bangladesh.
Being a border river with one side of the banks in India and the other in Bangladesh, no activity is allowed in 150 yards from the centre of the river.
But allegations have it that India is lifting water from the river violating rules and taking advantage of no agreement to equally use the water of the river.
MEETING WITH PM
In reply to a query on a meeting with prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday night, he said, "We have talked about election issues."
He said the discussion with the premier was fruitful but would not elaborate.
The deposed military dictator is scheduled to address seven street rallies during the march and a gathering at Government Pilot High School ground in Feni in the afternoon, his information and political affairs secretary Sunil Shuvo Roy told .
Earlier, the party had marched towards Sylhet on Dec 10-11 protesting against India's move to build a dam at Tipaimukh on the Barak River and to Nilphamari on Jan 17-18 demanding just share of water of the Teesta River.
Ruling Awami League's ally Jatiya Party's chairman has held a meeting with the prime minister, a day after he announced 'going solo'.
A source within the party told bdnews24.com on Sunday that chairman H M Ershad in the hour-long meeting at Sheikh Hasina's official residence Ganabhaban assured the Grand Alliance leader his party was staying in the fold.
This comes a day after Ershad's announcement at a programme in Rajshahi that Jatiya Party would 'no longer help anyone win elections'.
"In the future, the party will attend elections on its own," he had said.
At the meeting, the prime minister brought up Ershad's statement, the source said.
Ershad replied, "Everyone has to do their own politics. Everyone does politics to retain their existence."
"But I'm still with the Grand Alliance and wish to go to the polls with it," he said.
The prime minister said her government was taking all the necessary measures to curb inflation, in reply to Ershad's queries about inflation.