Can BNP leader Tarique Rahman unite a divided Bangladesh as election looms?

Rahman’s return will bolster the BNP, and could stabilise Bangladesh politics amid chaos and violence, say experts.

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Standing amid a sea of people on the outskirts of Dhaka, Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), declared that he had “a plan for the people and for the country”.

It’s a plan that has been 17 years in the making. On Thursday, the son of the critically ill BNP chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia landed in Dhaka, returning from Britain, where he had lived in exile since 2008. Tens of thousands of supporters gathered at a rally to welcome him home.

“We want peace,” Rahman said. “We have people from the hills and the plains in this country – Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. We want to build a safe Bangladesh, where every woman, man and child can leave home safely and return safely.”

His return comes at a time of heightened political uncertainty and tension in Bangladesh, following the assassination of prominent youth leader Osman Hadi and with a national election scheduled for February 2026. The BNP has long been widely seen as the frontrunner in the polls, with Rahman viewed as a leading contender for the prime ministership.

But the escalating violence in the country following Hadi’s assassination — the offices of the country’s two leading newspapers were set on fire, and a Hindu man was lynched — and deepening political tensions had led to fears that the election might be derailed.