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Published : 09 Jan 2026, 10:58 PM
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has named Tarique Rahman its new chief, formally passing the torch to the next generation of its founding family.
The scion of the Zia legacy and the party’s de facto leader for the better part of a decade, the 60-year old politician has been officially crowned the party chairman in a move heavy with symbolism, inevitability, and dynastic continuity.
The confirmation came late Friday night, when BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir briefed the media following a meeting of the party’s highest policymaking body, as the party braces for a crucial electoral battle next month.
"An emergency meeting of the National Standing Committee was held at 9pm, presided over by Party Chairman [Tarique]," he said.
He said the committee expressed satisfaction over Tarique formally assuming the role and offered prayers for his success in leading the party.
When asked about the transition, Fakhrul clarified that once someone becomes the chairman, the title of “acting chairman” no longer exists.
The meeting was attended by Standing Committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman, and Hafizuddin Ahmed, among others.
But this was no surprise twist, rather a long-pending coronation, simply formalising what had long been political reality.
Tarique, elder son of party founder Ziaur Rahman and the late chief Khaleda Zia, had effectively led the BNP since 2018, when his mother was jailed by Sheikh Hasina’s government in what the party has long decried as politically motivated corruption charges.
Her years of debilitating illness left Tarique, though physically in London, firmly in control of the party’s reins.
From exile, he shaped party strategy, handpicked candidates, and made key decisions. His voice was unmistakably dominant behind the scenes, even as he remained absent from political programmes at home.
The leadership of Tarique, who recently returned home after spending more than 17 years in self-imposed exile in London, was sealed just two weeks after Khaleda’s death on Dec 30.
For 42 years, Khaleda was the party's guiding star, its longest-serving chairperson and the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. Her absence left a vacuum only her son, steeped in the party’s legacy and ambition, could fill.
Except for a brief interlude under Justice Abdus Sattar, the BNP has always been a Zia family affair — forged by the father, elevated by the mother, and now passed on to the son.
According to his official biography on the BNP website, Tarique Rahman’s political baptism came in the fiery crucible of the 1980s during the anti-Ershad street agitations that shaped a generation of opposition politics in Bangladesh.
By 1988, he had formally entered the party as a primary member in Bogura, the family’s home turf. In 1993, he was instrumental in ushering in internal democracy within the BNP, pushing for elections to fill party posts.
Ahead of the pivotal 2001 general elections, Tarique established a research-focused office in Dhaka to study local governance and public administration. After the BNP-led alliance swept to power, he conspicuously declined a cabinet post, keeping himself at arm’s length from the levers of state.
His formal ascent began in 2002, when he was appointed senior joint secretary general. He went on to spearhead nationwide grassroots conferences in 2005, solidifying his influence across BNP’s base.
But then came 2007.
With the arrival of the military-installed caretaker government, Tarique’s trajectory was violently interrupted. On Mar 7, he was arrested in Dhaka. What followed was a cascade of 13 criminal cases, allegations of custodial torture, and a storm of media scrutiny. His health deteriorated behind bars.
In 2008, he left for London with his wife Zubaida Rahman and daughter Zaima, officially for medical treatment. But the trip soon became exile. His passport expired and was not renewed, and reports emerged that he had applied for political asylum in the UK.
At home, BNP floundered.
On Dec 8, 2009, the party gathered for its Fifth National Council, where Tarique was elected senior vice-chairman.
The next decade would prove brutal. The party’s decline was steep.
In 2010, Khaleda Zia was evicted from her Cantonment home of 28 years. BNP then boycotted the 2014 general election, a move that would exile them from parliament and put them back in the streets.
Years of protests failed to dislodge the Awami League. In 2015, Arafat Rahman Koko, Khaleda’s younger son died suddenly. The loss sent shockwaves through the family and the party alike.
By then, Tarique was stranded. Still without a valid passport, still unable to return, still wanted in the courts. The Awami League government filed 72 more cases against him, resulting in five convictions, including a life sentence for his alleged role in the Aug 21 grenade attack in 2004. The High Court banned media from airing his speeches.
Then, on Feb 8, 2018, Khaleda was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust case and sent to jail. The BNP's Standing Committee named Tarique acting chairman.
For the next seven years, Tarique ran the BNP from exile, directing strategies via video call from London, while figures like Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir handled day-to-day ground operations in Bangladesh.
In 2020, the Awami League released Khaleda temporarily through executive order. But she remained under de facto house and hospital arrest, barred from political activity.
After the July Uprisng of 2024, the president pardoned Khaleda, and the High Court later acquitted her in the major corruption cases. During this period, Tarique’s own legal obstacles were gradually lifted, opening the path finally for his return.
The transition back to home soil gained momentum after a meeting with Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus in the UK, where they agreed on a February 2026 election date.
By Nov 3, 2025, BNP began announcing partial candidate lists, and Tarique’s name appeared on the roster for Bogura-6, marking the first time he would contest a parliamentary seat. His return seemed imminent.
Then, on Nov 23, Khaleda fell gravely ill, and was hospitalised, raising renewed questions about Tarique’s delayed return.
Finally, on Dec 25, Tarique returned to Bangladesh to a hero’s welcome. In a brief yet symbolic address, he told supporters: “I have a plan.”
Five days later, his mother passed away.
He stood by her casket at the Parliament premises, before accompanying her for burial at Zia Udyan, beside his father.
The party's history remains inextricably linked to the military and political legacy of Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman, who rose to power following the 1975 assassination of the nation's independence architect Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Zia became chief martial law administrator (CMLA) in 1976 and was confirmed as president through a 1977 referendum.
Three months later, on Sept 1, 1978, Zia officially announced the formation of the BNP. Jagdal, NAP, United People’s Party, Labour Party, and Muslim League factions merged into BNP.
During this period, Zia was simultaneously president, CMLA, and army chief, and could not initially take the BNP chair.
Justice Abdus Sattar filled the role until Zia retired from the military and formally took over. Following the 1979 elections, the Fifth Amendment ratified his CMLA actions. His presidency and life ended in an assassination on May 30, 1981.
Within a year, his widow Khaleda, a reluctant housewife, stepped forward — first as vice-chairperson, then rising to become chairperson in 1984. She would remain at the BNP’s helm for the next four decades, until her death in 2025.
