The ruling Awami League will hold a programme in the capital on Saturday apparently to counter a rally of its arch-rival BNP on the same day.

The AL's Dhaka city (south) unit will organise a discussion in front of the party headquarters in the capital's Gulistan at 3:00 pm marking its 75th founding anniversary, reads a press release issued by the same party unit yesterday.

On June 26, the BNP announced that it will hold freshprogrammes demanding immediate, unconditional release of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

As part of the programmes, the BNP will stage a rally in front of its central office in the city's Nayapaltan at 3:00pm today.

The AL announced its programme yesterday saying that it will hold a discussion at 3:00pm today in front of its central office on Bangabandhu Avenue, around 1.6km away from the BNP headquarters.

This is the third time since the January 7 parliamentary polls the ruling party is organising a programme to counter BNP's.

On January 30, the BNP took out black flag processions in the capital calling for dissolution of the 12th parliament. On the same day, the AL organised nationwide rallies protesting "undemocratic activities" of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

The ruling party held "peace rallies" since December last year apparently to counter the BNP's demonstrations demanding general election under a non-party neutral administration.