Several thousand leaders and activists of the BNP have gathered in front of the headquarters at Dhaka’s Naya Paltan to join the rally marking the party’s 40th founding anniversary.
The rally began around 2:00pm but supporters from across the capital as well as other parts of the country started to gather at the venue from 11am.
On Wednesday (Aug 29), BNP said it secured clearance from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to hold the rally.
The conditions set by police include ending the rally by 5:30pm and no gathering before and outside the venue of the rally. No-one will be allowed to carry sticks.
The BNP has planned programmes for two days to mark its founding anniversary.
Leaders have said they are marking the occasion with limited programmes as their chief Khaleda Zia is in jail while acting chief and Khaleda’s son Tarique Rahman is abroad.
The BNP said it expects a gathering of at least 400,000 party supporters on Saturday, provided that the police do not stop them from travelling.
“However, until now our supporters have faced no obstruction from police. Leaders and activists from across the country have started to arrive early in the day. We expect a crowd of something between 400,000 and 500,000”, BNP Vice Chairman Barkatullah Bulu told Bangla Tribune.
Police said they have ratcheted up security measures over the rally.
“Security for these types of rallies is coordinated centrally, but we have taken all kinds of measures,” said Deputy Commissioner Anwar Hossain of the police’s Motijheel Division.


After capturing power following several coups and political upheavals in 1975, military strongman Ziaur Rahman founded Jatyiatabadi Ganatantrik Dal in February 1978.
The party was turned into the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP on Sept 1 the same year.
The party will also hold various programmes on the occasion in other districts of the country as well.
Party chief Khaleda, 73, is in jail for seven months now after being convicted in a corruption case, and faces at least 34 more lawsuits. It's not clear when she will be able to walk out of prison.
Her son and presumed political heir Tarique Rahman has also been convicted in two graft cases in absentia.
A fugitive facing several arrest warrants, he has been living in London since 2008.