Terming the situation 'a national crisis', they demanded immediate stepping down of the four-party alliance government if they fail to ensure uninterrupted supply of those items to the farmers.

They demanded diversion of electricity supply from urban to rural areas, if necessary, for ensuring uninterrupted supply of electricity at least from 10:00pm to 6:00am every day in the paddy growing areas.

President of Bikalpa Dhara AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, President of Jatiya Oikya Mancha Dr Kamal Hossain and President of Bangladesh Tariqat Federation Moulana Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari in a joint press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday announced the programme.

The government has failed to provide fertiliser, power and water to the farmers and the ministers concerned including the prime minister are responsible for the failure, Bikalpa Dhara chief and former president Badruddoza Chowdhury said at the conference.

Expressing solidarity with the farmers during agitation programme, people will demonstrate across the country demanding the supply of power, water and fertiliser, Dr Kamal said.

Due to lack of fertiliser, power and water, the area is going to suffer a production shortfall of at least 10 lakh tonnes of food grain this year, said Dr Kamal, who led a team that visited Rangpur and Nilphamari districts on March 31 to observe the condition of farmers.

The total loss of farmers due to lack of those essential items would be around Tk 2,000 crore, he said.

The leaders expressed the desire to help the government overcome the crisis if the government admits its failure in this regard.

Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari said the power crisis has arisen in the country as the government failed to retain foreign assistance in this sector.

The failures to ensure timely supply of water and urea fertiliser have already caused loss of 25 per cent of the expected crop, they pointed out.

During the visits, the team saw how the power pumps become idle due to persistent failure of electricity supply in the rural areas.

The farmers in the two districts told the team that electricity was available for only two hours a day.

The team members also found potato farmers in Rangpur lost 35 to 50 per cent of the crop due to the attack of 'late blight'.

The team comprising presidium members of Jatiya Oikya Mancha advocate Zahirul Islam, S M Altaf, Mostafa Mohsin Montu, Organising Secretary advocate Zaglul Haider, and Bikalpadhara Joint Secretary Feroz Hasan held meetings with farmers and local union parishad leaders at different places in the two districts.