A candidate can spend Tk 10 per voter for electioneering in the upcoming parliamentary polls. His/her total spending, however, in no way can exceed Tk 25 lakh, the ceiling of maximum expenditure, even if the number of voters in a constituency is more than 2.5 lakh, according to a notification issued by the Election Commission.

With much fanfare and enthusiasm, aspiring candidates yesterday started collecting nomination forms from the Awami League's election steering office in Dhanmondi, setting off on their race to be the party's contestants in the 11th parliamentary polls.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has given the nod to her party's plan to join the upcoming parliamentary polls and enforce a series of agitation programmes in the run-up to the election, party insiders said.

Claiming there is a congenial atmosphere for polls across the country, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda yesterday announced that the 11th parliamentary election will be held on December 23.

Jatiya Oikyafront leaders have taken preparations to bring people from neighbouring districts today to their rally in Rajshahi, amid widespread arrests and the ongoing transport strike in Natore.

Sufia Begum, along with her daughter, waited at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court Dhaka since morning yesterday to catch a glimpse of her son Abu Sufian.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who wrapped up weeklong dialogues with political parties on the next parliamentary polls yesterday, had been part of the eventful history of both successful and failed talks.

Yesterday's talks between the Jatiya Oikyafront and the Awami League-led 14-party alliance began with Dr Kamal Hossain putting forward the Oikyafront's proposals on the outline of the polls-time government, reconstitution of the Election Commission and creation of a level playing field for all political parties.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir says Jatiya Oikyafront will continue movement to press home their demands including dissolution of parliament ahead of the national election.

The Election Commission seems to be in an unusual hurry to announce the schedule for the next parliamentary polls.

Like Khulna division from which it was carved out, Barishal has been a swing division since 2001.

History says Chattogram division is a bastion of the BNP.

The state of politics in the run up to the upcoming parliamentary polls looks quite different from what prevailed in 2006 and 2013. The first week of the 90-day timeframe from October 31 for holding the polls saw some positive signs like talks between the ruling and opposition parties and deferral of the election schedule by the Election Commission.

Awami League-led 14-party alliance will hold talks with Jatiya Oikyafront for the second time at the prime minister’s official residence Gono Bhaban in Dhaka on November 7.

The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the next parliamentary election on November 8.

A number of Supreme Court verdicts in cases related to Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad seem to have the answer to a million-dollar question: Is the BNP chairperson eligible to contest the upcoming parliamentary polls?

Top leaders of the components of the Awami League-led 14-party combine yesterday urged Sheikh Hasina to announce at one go the names of all alliance candidates for the next national election to avoid conflict.

Jatiya Oikyafront submits a letter to the Election Commission (EC) urging it not to announce the schedule for the 11th parliamentary election until the end of the ongoing dialogue.

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad yesterday claimed the talks between the newly floated Jatiya Oikyafront and the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance had no outcome.

The ruling Awami League will begin talks with opposition political alliance Jatiya Oikyafront tomorrow with a backdrop of an eventful saga of success and failure in the history of dialogue in Bangladesh politics. In the following we have reproduced the article, by Shakhawat Liton published in 2016, analysing the history of political dialogues in the country.