Besides the 24-hour hartal, the AL and Sramik League will also observe strike at mills and factories across the country from 6:00am.

The shutdown is to protest the killing of AL lawmaker Ahsanullah Master and grenade attack on the British envoy to Bangladesh. Immediate arrest of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh commander Bangla Bhai is also a point.

The left-leaning parties, including the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Workers Party, Hasanul Haq Inu led Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Samyabadi Dal, and the labour organisations alliance Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (Skop) have extended their support to the hartal.

AL sources said the party and its different front organisations have taken all-out preparation to make tomorrow's hartal a success.

"We have taken this hartal as a springboard to gear up anti-government movement. This is also to regain party workers' confidence that we have lost after failure of April 30 deadline to oust the government," said a senior AL leader preferring anonymity.

AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil in a statement yesterday urged all to observe the hartal to protest misdeeds of the present government.