Following the new tariff announcement on Nov 23, leftists called an eight-hour countrywide shutdown—a protest the BNP had earlier said was not always accepted by people. On Wednesday, senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said: “We consider this shutdown to be rational for the sake of people. The BNP fully supports tomorrow’s hartal by left parties.”The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission raised the retail power prices by Tk 0.35 a unit, which means a 5.3 percent increase. Also readHike will ‘hardly affect’ people: GovtSoon after the announcement, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Socialist Party of Bangladesh and an alliance of left parties called the shutdown, which starts at 6am on Thursday. We stand by the public.”Following a three-month nationwide blockade and shutdowns in early 2015, the BNP has not opted for general strikes as protests, but backed other parties on it.

Source: bd News24 November 29, 2017 09:11 UTC