Sheikh Hasina with a voters’ list that she says is incorrect at the news conference in Dhaka on Wednesday. (AP)

Dhaka, Jan. 3 (AP): A 14-party political alliance in Bangladesh led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said it will boycott this month’s general elections, alleging the interim government charged with organising the poll favours its opponents.

The alliance’s boycott deepens a political crisis that has crippled Bangladesh for months, triggering violent street protests that have killed at least 34 and forced the interim government to deploy troops to maintain peace.

“The caretaker government is not neutral,” Hasina told a news conference in Dhaka. “It’s biased in favour of our opponents. So we are not going to the polls on January 22,” she told the crowded conference as her supporters cheered.

Alliance candidates began pulling out from the race today, the deadline for withdrawals, news reports said. Despite the boycott, the election commission said it planned to hold the election on schedule.

“The election commission is working towards holding the election on time,” top election official Mahfuzur Rahman said today. Hasina’s alliance also wants the election to be postponed until a new voter list is ready, and has threatened to disrupt the voting unless its demands are met.

Members of the interim government were expected to meet later to discuss the situation, news reports said.

A four-party coalition led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said it would participate in the election. “We shall take part in the polls in spite of the boycott by Hasina’s alliance,” said Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, an aide to Zia.

Bhuiyan urged Hasina’s alliance to reconsider the boycott, and called for the election to be held as scheduled.

Under the constitution, elections must be held within 90 days after an incumbent government resigns.

Hasina’s announcement comes just days after the election commission dismissed an appeal by her coalition partner, former military ruler and Jatiya Party president Hussain Muhammad Ershad, to run in the election.

Election officials last week disqualified Ershad from the parliament race because he lost an appeal of a three-year prison sentence in a decade-old corruption case.

Hasina, who is also the Awami league president, said the alliance would block transportation during a strike on Sunday and Monday in an effort to force electoral reforms.

She accused interim President Iajuddin Ahmed of favouring her rival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and demanded he step down as head of the interim government.

Zia constitutionally stepped down at the end of her term to allow the caretaker administration to prepare for the election.

Hasina said the developments in the past few weeks “have clearly proved that President Iajuddin Ahmed is now the main obstacle in holding free and fair polls”.

“We have come to the conclusion that the President must relinquish the office of the chief adviser — the head of the interim government — to make the balloting free and fair,” she said.

The interim government has already sent on leave two election officials Hasina accused of favouring Zia’s parties. The commission also revised the election schedule twice and started correcting the electoral roll.