Muhammad Yunus accused of 'special affection' for a party after meet with BNP

DHAKA: Hardline Jamaat-e-Islami and the newly formed NCP, which had backed Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus's decision to hold the national election in April, on Saturday accused him of partiality, a day after he and BNP reached a "preliminary understanding" to hold the poll in Feb."The chief adviser has expressed special affection for a party, which has undermined his impartiality," the Jamaat said in a statement.In a meeting London on Friday, Yunus conveyed to BNP acting chairperson in-exile Tarique Rahman that the election could be held in the week before the start of Ramadan in 2026 if all preparations are completed.The BNP-led coalition of around 50 parties was demanding early poll in Dec, JeI and National Citizen Party (NCP) had backed Yunus over the April time frame. JeI said it believes that holding a joint press conference and issuing a statement abroad on domestic matters is a "violation of the country's political culture". He should have held discussions with other parties after returning and then expressed his opinion, JeI said. The NCP called the issue "extremely disappointing".