Dhaka, Nov 19: Bangladesh`s second largest opposition party, the Jatiya Party (JP), returned to parliament today two days after it walked out protesting comments made by a government minister. JP members joined today`s session after a meeting with government minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan yesterday, the official BSS news agency said, without giving details of their talks.
On Monday the JP announced it would join the main opposition Awami League party in boycotting the current session of the 300-seat parliament.
They were angered by a denial from State Minister for Disaster Management Ashadul Habib Dulu that the Northern Rangpur district was suffering from food shortages.
The JP faction, headed by deposed Bangladeshi President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, has 14 MPs.
Rangpur is Ershad`s home district and the majority of the JP members of parliament were elected from the region.
The Awami League, headed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, has boycotted Parliament for nearly a year.
The government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who has a longstanding personal rivalry with Sheikh Hasina, has tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Awami League to return to Parliament, in which Zia`s four-party Islamist Alliance has a comfortable two-thirds majority.
Bureau Report