The 12-party alliance has called a hartal on Sunday and Monday (19 and 20 November) in protest of the election schedule announced yesterday.

Leaders of the 12-party coalition held a protest march in the capital on Thursday afternoon to protest the announcement of the schedule.

At the end of the rally, the alliance leaders announced the hartal.

The 12 parties in the alliance are – Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar), Bangladesh Kalyan Party, Bangladesh Labour Party, Bangladesh Jatiya Dal, NDP, LDP, Bangladesh Muslim League, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh, Islami Oikyajote, Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal, Bangladesh Islamic Party, and Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (JAGPA).

The leaders said, "The Awami League government is conspiring to completely destroy the democratic system by announcing the election schedule ignoring the public opinion."

The 12th Jatiya Sangsad election will be held on 7 January, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday amid staunch objections from the opposition parties, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

On 28 October, both the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami called rallies in the capital which were marred by violence.

Many vehicles were torched and two people were left dead, including a police constable.

There was also an attack on the residence of the chief justice, aside from vandalism at a police hospital.

The rallies – called to push home both the parties' demands of ensuring a polls' time government – took a violent turn soon after it began.

Clashes with AL partymen and police took place in different areas of the capital.

Midway into BNP's rally, party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir suspended the programme and declared a hartal the next day, alleging a police crackdown at their event.

Fakhrul was arrested the next day over the attacks on police the day earlier, alongside hundreds of BNP activists.

The arrest was met by BNP's announcement of a three-day blockade, starting 31 October.

The next day, Jamaat-e-Islami also announced an identical blockage programme.

Since then there have been consecutive blockades.