AL Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah hosted the dinner at his Gulshan residence in honour of the new Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty.

Top diplomats including those from the US, Canada and Australia attended the dinner.

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, AL presidium members Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Workers' Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haque Inu were present.

After the dinner, the 14-party leaders told reporters that they want the election be held within three months.

"We want election as soon as possible. We are ready for the election. As the present government took oath as per the constitutional clause of 58 (C), we hope they will hold the election within the stipulated 90 days," Zafarullah told reporters.

On resignation of the acting chief election commissioner (CEC) and other election commissioners, the AL leader said they took it positively and hoped the new CEC and other election commissioners would be appointed within a couple of days.

The reconstituted Election Commission would update the voter list as per the high court directives and hold an election immediately, Zafarullah added.

Menon, a key leader of the 14-party alliance, also echoed the AL leader saying they want the election be held within April. He, however, said they did not discuss about the election with the diplomats in the party.

Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan termed the dinner as a social gathering.

Asked about discussion on holding of the election within April-May, the Indian envoy said it is an internal matter of Bangladesh. "We are watching the Bangladesh situation and informing our government," Pinak added.

Tofail also said it was completely a social gathering. Sheikh Selim echoed the same view.

Suranjit said they are not in a hurry of holding an election as early as possible. "We support the new caretaker government and hope they will hold a free and fair election."