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Patwary claimed that students welcomed his team with flowers after they reached the college.

He said a group identifying themselves as former Chhatra Dal leaders then confronted him at the gate and demanded money, which he refused.

He alleged that the situation soon worsened when brick chunks and eggs were thrown at him and his supporters.

Several people were injured in the attack, including a woman who required four stitches to her head, he claimed.

“The police said they were there to protect us, yet our supporters were attacked in front of them,” he said.

The NCP leader called on the BNP leadership to expel Abbas, who is Patwary’s rival in Dhaka-8, alleging that Abbas’s family members and supporters were behind what he described as a planned attack. Nasiruddin also named several individuals who took part in the attack.

This newspaper could not independently verify his or the NCP’s claims.

At the briefing, NCP Convener Nahid said he had not come to “play the victim card” but to issue a warning over the repeated attacks on candidates and campaigners of the 11-party “Oikkoboddho Bangladesh” alliance.

“If an attack takes place, there will be a counter-attack. If the Election Commission remains silent and if the police remain inactive, then we will do what is necessary from our side.”

Nahid spoke of a similar incident a day earlier in Dhaka-18, where their alliance candidate Ariful Islam Adeeb and his supporters were allegedly attacked. He also claimed that over the past few days, women campaigners affiliated with the female wing of the Jamaat were attacked in around six to seven districts.

According to him, the incidents showed a pattern of targeting the alliance candidates and campaigners, particularly young candidates and women.

Referring to the throwing of eggs at candidates, which he said occurred in Dhaka-8 and other areas, Nahid said, “If eggs are thrown at candidates of one party, candidates of the other party will face the same fate.

“We don’t want such an environment. We want a politics of harmony, having fought the anti-fascist movement together. But today, one side is using Awami League-style tactics to humiliate its rival candidates.”

The NCP leader also alleged that while an alliance was being allowed to campaign freely, often in violation of the electoral code of conduct, candidates and activists of their alliance were being targeted elsewhere. “This has made it clear that there is no level playing field.”

He further alleged that since BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman’s return home, they have been hearing of a plan which, judging by recent incidents, appears to involve attacking and humiliating candidates of other alliances, obstructing campaigns, pressuring the EC and the media, making the election one-sided, capturing polling centres, and controlling the results.

“If there is such a plan, it will be settled on February 12.”

Mahdi Amin, spokesperson for BNP’s Central Election Steering Committee, rejected Nahid’s claims.

In a Facebook post, he said, linking Tarique’s name to any incident without any evidence is a reflection of a fascist culture.