<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Giving a pause for a day after its 48-hour hartal, the BNP and like-minded parties will enforce a 48-hour fresh road-rail-waterway blockade across the country starting from Wednesday morning to protest the schedule for the next national election announced by the Election Commission (EC).</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>Party Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the announcement at a virtual press briefing on Monday afternoon.</div><div><br></div><div>It will be the sixth phase of the blockade programme of the opposition parties since October 31.</div><div><br></div><div>He said the blockade will begin at 6am on Wednesday and end at 6m on Friday.</div><div><br></div><div>Rizvi said the blockade is also meant for mounting pressure on the government to quit, hold the next election under a non-party neutral government and release party leaders and activists, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.</div><div><br></div><div>He said other opposition parties, who have long been carrying out the simultaneous movement with BNP, will also observe a similar programme.</div><div><br></div><div>Earlier, the party and like-minded parties enforced a 48-hour countrywide shutdown from Sunday and it will end at 6m on Tuesday.</div><div><br></div><div>Rizvi thanked the country’s people and the opposition leaders and activists for making their hartal programme a success.</div><div><br></div><div>The opposition parties observed blockades in five phases to mount pressure on the Awami League government to quit power and hold the next election under a non-partisan administration.</div><div><br></div><div>They also observed a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal on October 29 in protest against the attacks on BNP’s grand rally at Nayapaltan that ended amid the incidents of torching vehicles and clashes, leaving three people dead.</div><div><br></div><div>Half an hour into the start of BNP's much-talked-about grand rally at Nayapaltan on October 28, BNP leaders and workers locked in a clash with the ruling party activists and police at Kakrail. Soon violent clashes spread around Nayapaltan, foiling the rally midway. - UNB</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>