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Published : 27 Feb 2026, 09:37 PM
Renovation is in full swing at the historic 29 Minto Road, recently allocated by the government to the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Shafiqur Rahman.
The party, Jamaat-e-Islami, however, is yet to finalise whether Shafiqur will officially move into the house, which has remained vacant for over two decades.
The Ministry of Housing and Public Works is overseeing the extensive repairs of the two-storey red building, which had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect.
"It will take at least another month to make the house suitable for the leader of the opposition," an engineer from the Public Works Department told bdnews24.com.
The Chief Engineer of the Department of Public Works Md Khalequezzaman Choudhury confirmed the government’s allocation and that the renovation was underway to make it habitable as soon as possible.
The residence holds a prominent place in Bangladesh’s political history.
In 1991, the then opposition leader and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina resided there.
From 1996 to 2001, former BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia used the building as her regular office and residence while leading the opposition.
The house, once a bustling hub of political activity, has not hosted an opposition leader since Khaleda vacated it 25 years ago.
Speaking to bdnews24.com, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said: "A decision on whether he [Shafiqur Rahman] will stay there has not been made yet. We will need to discuss and finalise the matter."
Shafiqur, elected from the Dhaka-15 constituency, was nominated as the leader of the opposition in parliament on Feb 17, five days after the general election.
Following a landslide victory in the parliamentary polls held on Feb 12, the BNP formed the government with an absolute majority. In the election, the BNP secured 209 seats, while Jamaat won 68.
