Student-led NCP sees internal rift ahead of Bangladesh polls

DHAKA: (Dec 28) An internal rift overnight gripped the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) over its proposed alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of the Bangladesh election in February, with 30 of its leaders issuing a joint letter opposing the plan and two ranking members announcing their resignation.

The NCP, a large offshoot of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) that spearheaded last year's violent movement, dubbed the July Uprising, toppling then prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government, emerged as a political party with interim government chief Muhammad Yunus' blessings in February.

The first signatory to the memorandum and the NCP's joint member-secretary, Mushfiq Us Saleheen, told reporters on Saturday night that they have sent the memo titled "Principled objections to a potential alliance in light of the accountability of the July Uprising and party values" to party convenor Nahid Islam.