Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh

The party was conceived by Dr Chowdhury in 2003 after he was forced to abdicate his presidency. Dr Chowdhury felt the need of a third force in the de facto two-party democracy in Bangladesh. He expressed recruiting civil society members in politics to fight corruption and terrorism and establish good governance in the country through an alternate stream (lit. Bikalpa Dhara) political party. ==By-elections in 2004==

Article 70 of the Constitution states that a parliamentarian who defects automatically loses his seat. Since both M A Mannan and Mahi B Chowdhury were ruling party parliamentarians during their defection to Bikalpa Dhara, their seats were vacated and by-elections declared. Both the parliamentarians contested for their own seats again. The Munshiganj-1 district was contested mainly by Momin Ali of BNP and Mahi Chowdhury, Despite considerable opposition from the BNP, Mahi Chowdhury managed to win the elections and enter Parliament as the only opposition member from the BDB. The Dhaka-10 constituency was contested between former MP M A Mannan and BNP's Mosaddek Ali Falu including, according to WikiLeaks and the United States Department of State . Mahi's membership in the Jatiyo Sangshad expired along with the parliament in October 2006. ==2008 elections and aftermath==

The party contested the 2008 elections independently, but won no seats during the elections. Party president Dr Chowdhury lost his security money for obtaining only about 5,000 votes in his Dhaka-6 constituency, and came third in his Munshiganj-1 constituency, where he was elected parliamentarian four times in the past. No other Bikalpa Dhara candidates were able to secure seats in the 9th Parliament. ==2009 – present==

Chowdhury attended political iftars with both Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (which Khaleda Zia boycotted) and Khaleda Zia (which Sheikh Hasina boycotted). Stances Awami League government Bikalpa Dhara believed that the Awami League-led Grand Alliance had failed in fulfilling their duties as the government, and a scheme of having fresh elections at the earliest must be hatched. Caretaker government Bikalpa Dhara opposed the repealing of the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished the caretaker government system in Bangladesh, and stated their liking of the system to the Chief Election Commissioner during a formal dialogue. The party also has agreed to join former foe BNP in a movement to reinstate the caretaker government. General agitations by BNP Bikalpa Dhara hasn't associated themselves with the general agitation movements being led by BNP. For instance, Bikalpa Dhara were invited by BNP to join their mass hunger strike on 12 July. While LDP, another party split from BNP, joined the movement, Bikalpa Dhara declined. However, Bikalpa Dhara joined BNP's road march program starting on 10 October. == Election results ==

Jatiya Sangsad elections ==References==