A three-day blockade of road, rail and waterways, enforced by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and like-minded opposition parties, across Bangladesh began this morning. The blockade is to mount pressure on the Awami League government to quit and hold the next election which is due in January, 2024 under a non-party, neutral administration.<br />''<br />''Banned political party  Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami also enforced the blockade simultaneously from this morning to Thursday evening with the same demands.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #101828;">According to the media report,  seven people including a police constable and a media person lost their lives and more then 1000 got injured in the last three days in different incidents in Dhaka and other places of Bangladesh. <br />''<br />''At many places vehicles were set on fire by the miscreants on the first day of a 3- day blockade. A bus was set on fire by unidentified arsonists near the National Press Club in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon.<br />''<br />''In response </span><span style="color: #000000;">72-hour </span><span style="color: #101828;">blockade </span><span style="color: #000000;">called by BNP, Jamaat and associate parties</span><span style="color: #101828;">, </span><span style="color: #000000;">Awami League is holding a march and sit-in programme on the streets. Ruling party's leaders and activists were seen shouting the slogan in favour of Sheikh Hasina government while protesting the opposition's blockade.</span><br />''Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and other security agencies heavily deployed to check unwanted incidents.  Eight Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) battalions  deployed in the capital from Monday evening. Apart from the capital, BGB members are patrolling in various parts across the country. <br />''<span style="color: #222222;"><br />''</span><span style="color: #000000;">Public transport systems within cities disrupted and long route bus services between major cities were suspended from this morning due to growing concerns over the three-day blockade. Due to panic conditions and street violence, </span><span style="color: #101828;">low-income people including street vendors in the city are bearing the brunt of political uncertainty as their daily sales or income have dropped sharply.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh Kazi Habibul Awal said the 12th national polls would be held as scheduled regardless of whether the environment for elections is favourable. He told reporters after holding a meeting with US Ambassador Peter Haas on Tuesday. <br />''He said whether or not the environment is favourable, they were expecting that ultimately most political parties would join the polls and make the environment favourable.</span><br />