Dhaka, Dec 17 (PTI) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League on Sunday decided to give 26 out of 300 parliamentary seats to the Jatiya Party (JAPA), in an effort to persuade the opposition party to participate in the January 7 general elections, being boycotted by the main opposition BNP.

"The Awami League nominees have withdrawn their candidature from these seats,” the ruling party said in a statement on the last day of the withdrawal of the candidature under the Election Commission schedule.

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The development came after a day-long dramatic behind-the-scenes interaction as the JAPA was reluctant to contest the elections, while it is officially or technically the main opposition in the current parliament in the absence of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The JAPA's reluctance to participate in the polls had posed the ruling party a major challenge of legitimising the polling and ensuring its participatory nature, amid a boycott by BNP of ailing former premier Khaleda Zia.

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The Awami League has also left six seats to its partners in the 14-party ruling alliance - three seats to the left-leaning Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASOD), two to the Workers Party and one to another Jatiya Party faction called JP.

According to the seat-sharing arrangements, JASOD and Workers Party will contest the polls with Awami League's “boat” symbol” like the ruling party candidates and JAPA nominees will be on the race with their own logo “plough” against independent candidates.

Unlike previous elections, the Awami League allowed its “rebel” leaders and activists to contest the elections as independent candidates, promising that they would not face any disciplinary actions in its efforts to make the polling participatory.

JAPA's Secretary General Mujibul Haque told reporters that the party has decided to take part in the elections as the government and the Election Commission assured them that the polls would be free and fair.

He said JAPA would contest 283 seats and in some cases it has forged a “strategic arrangement” with the ruling Awami League. “But did not ally with Awami League,” Chunnu said.

JAPA Chairman GM Quader earlier said their party would not join the general elections under the Awami League government but some analysts said that under the seat-sharing arrangement, the party would become the biggest beneficiary.

The BNP has repeatedly been saying no election under Awami League would be fair. The party has been demanding the government's resignation to pave the way for an interim non-party-neutral government to conduct the polls.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal earlier said that despite the need for a “congenial atmosphere” for a smooth election, “for a long time, there exist differences of opinions among political leaderships on the question of election, particularly over the institutional method of the polling”.

In a veiled reference to BNP and its allies, Awal said his office invited all registered political parties who were “reluctant” to take part in the upcoming polls for dialogues with the Commission but “they rejected the invitation”.

President Mohammad Shahabuddin Ahmed on Sunday gave his consent to call out army troops to maintain law and order “in aid of civil power” on an Election Commission's proposal.

The BNP had boycotted the 2014 election but took part in 2018 polls.

With the BNP boycotting the elections, and no other credible opposition party against it, Hasina's party is likely to gain an upper hand and likely to form the government for the fourth consecutive term.

The US and other major Western countries called for dialogue between the ruling Awami League and particularly with the BNP to ensure an inclusive and credible election.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)