Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman have sat down for a one-on-one meeting in London.
The meeting began at 2pm Bangladesh time on Friday at the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane, according to the Chief Advisor’s Office, reports bdnews24.com.
The head of Bangladesh`s interim government is staying at the hotel during his four-day trip to the UK.
The BNP hopes the meeting will pave the way for resolving the national political crisis.
"We expect this meeting to unlock a new horizon and pave the way for Bangladesh to play a positive role in resolving the crisis," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
The visiting Chief Advisor is currently staying at the same hotel. Meanwhile, BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury arrived in London on Wednesday.
The meeting between Yunus and Tarique has sparked widespread speculation across all walks of life in Bangladesh.
It has been a topic of energetic discussions in the political arena, in hotels and restaurants, on television talk shows, the pages of newspapers and magazines, and social media.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, "This meeting is very timely. It is going to be between the head of the government of Bangladesh and the head of the largest political party in Bangladesh. We hope that the people of this country expect that through this meeting, a positive and logical decision will be taken regarding the direction of the nation and the future operation of the state."
AZM Zahid Hossain, another Standing Committee member, said: "This meeting is very significant and important for Bangladesh."
"I think that after this meeting, the public`s current confusion regarding the elections will be cleared up."
This is essentially the first private meeting between Tarique with the head of government of any country since he went to London for medical treatment on Sept 11, 2008.
For the past few months, top BNP leaders have been demanding parliamentary elections by December. The party`s de facto leader Tarique has reiterated the demand during several virtual addresses at rallies.
In his address to the nation before Eid-ul-Azha, Yunus announced that the general elections would be held sometime in the first week of April, leaving BNP leaders and activists disappointed and displeased.
