SAEDNEWES: Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka on Thursday after nearly 17 years in exile, a homecoming the party hopes will energize supporters with Rahman poised to be the top contender for prime minister in the February 12 elections.
Hundreds of thousands of supporters lined the route from Dhaka’s airport to the reception venue, waving party flags and carrying placards, banners, and flowers, while chanting slogans welcoming Rahman. Senior BNP leaders received him at the airport under tight security, Reuters reported.
Rahman, 60, the son of ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has lived in London since 2008 and has led the BNP as acting chairman since 2018.
Dressed in a light grey, finely checkered blazer over a crisp white shirt, Rahman waved to the crowd with a gentle smile.
He had been unable to return to Bangladesh while facing multiple criminal cases. Rahman was convicted in absentia on charges that included money laundering and in a case linked to an alleged plot to assassinate former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The rulings were later overturned after Hasina was ousted last year in a student-led uprising, removing the legal obstacles to his return.
His homecoming also carries personal urgency, as Khaleda Zia has been seriously ill for months. Party officials said Rahman would travel from the airport to a reception venue before visiting his mother.
The political landscape has shifted sharply since Hasina’s removal from power, ending decades in which she and Khaleda Zia largely alternated in office. A December survey by the US-based International Republican Institute suggested that the BNP is on track to win the largest number of parliamentary seats, with the Jamaat-e-Islami party also competing.
Hasina’s Awami League, barred from the election, has threatened unrest, raising fears that voting could be disrupted.
Bangladesh is heading into the polls under an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. While authorities have pledged a free and peaceful election, recent attacks on media outlets and sporadic violence have raised concerns, making Rahman’s return a defining moment for both the BNP and the country’s fragile political transition.
