Dhaka, Dec. 23 -- The BNP has announced a seat-sharing agreement with the Islamist party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh, under which the party will not contest four parliamentary constituencies in the upcoming general election.

The deal was announced at a media briefing in Dhaka on Tuesday by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Under the agreement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam candidates will contest the seats of Nilphamari-1, Narayanganj-4, Sylhet-5 and Brahmanbaria-2. The candidates named are the party's secretary general Manzurul Islam Afendi in Nilphamari, Monir Hossain Kasemi in Narayanganj, party president Obaidullah Faruq in Sylhet and Junaid Al Habib in Brahmanbaria.

The BNP has already announced candidates for 272 of t...