Suhrawardy Udyan turned into a sea of people as the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami began its national rally at the historic venue.
But conspicuous by its absence was the representation of BNP.
Leaders from several political parties, including the National Citizen Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlish, Khelafat Andolon, JAGPA, and Jonotar Odhikar Party, among others, had all been invited.
But was the BNP left out?
Speaking to Dhaka Stream, BNP media cell member Shairul Kabir Khan said no one from the party would be attending the event.
"We were not given an invitation," he said.
Sources within Jamaat, however, said an invitation had been sent.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said their party was not invited to the national rally organised by Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan.
"We have been asked why no one of us went to the event [of Jamaat] that is being held in Dhaka. How can we go if we are not invited?" he said while speaking at a seminar in the city's Banani area.
He also said even if an invitation had been extended, it would not necessarily mean the party would have attended.
Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair, assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and also the PRO of the Central Committee, said an invitation had been sent to the BNP.
Asked if the invitation was in person or as an invite, he said, "Whoever we spoke to the BNP did not attend."
Aside from the invitation, other sources within Jamaat also speculated on a different version.
Jamaat's Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher told the media that only the parties which support the Proportional Representation system were invited to the rally.
Some insiders Dhaka Stream spoke to from the party said the BNP wasn't invited owing to its opposition to holding national elections under the proportional representation (PR) system.
Another senior Jamaat leader told UNB that since BNP is strongly against the PR system, inviting them would have created an uncomfortable situation for both sides.
"Inviting BNP would have been uncomfortable for both parties," the leader said, preferring not to be named.
BNP and Jamaat were political allies for over two decades since 1999. They even ran a coalition government together from 2001-2006.
However, in December 2022, the alliance was officially dissolved through mutual understanding.
Although the two parties joined the anti-government movement before the 7 January 2024 national election, Jamaat later moved away from BNP's simultaneous movement after the polls.
What is the PR system?
In a PR system, candidates do not win seats just by getting the most votes in a single constituency. Instead, the goal is to make sure each vote contributes to the final makeup of parliament. The most common form is the party-list system. Here, political parties submit a list of candidates before the election.
Voters cast their ballot for a party, not an individual. The percentage of votes a party receives decides how many of its candidates from the list enter parliament.
This is the system that Jamaat has been adamant on since consensus on the next election was being made.
Bangladesh, like India and the UK, currently has the "first-past-the-post" system, where voters choose from several candidates in each seat, and whoever gets the most votes wins.
Of the parties invited to the Jamaat rally, most have agreed to a PR electoral system.
The NCP and Gono Odhikar Parishad, for instance, have been very vocal on their demand for a PR system.
The BNP, meanwhile, isn't the only party not attending.
Who else didn't attend?
Mojibur Rahman Monju, chairman of the AB Party, told the media that he was not even aware of the rally.
Meanwhile, the Gono Samhati Andolon said although they had received an invitation, party members would not be attending.
Zonayed Saki, chief coordinator of Ganosamhati Andolan, had called for the next three to five elections to be held under caretaker governments and backed the PR system.
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