Tarique to make electoral debut from Bogura-6, his mother Khaleda’s constituency

Khaleda has held this constituency is 1996, 2001 and 2008 elections -- now her son steps into the same political arena

Though deeply involved in party strategy and election planning for almost 20 years, Tarique Rahman has never campaigned as a candidate himself. That changes in the next general election, where he will contest Bogura-6.

The acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had hinted at this move earlier. In an interview with BBC Bangla in early October, when asked if he would contest the election, he replied confidently: “Yes, God willing.”

At a press conference on Monday afternoon at the party chairperson’s office in Gulshan, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir read out the names of 237 party nominees. He announced that Tarique would run for Bogura-6 (Sadar).

Bogura -- the birthplace of late President Ziaur Rahman -- has been considered a BNP stronghold since the party’s founding. Former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has long contested there: she stood from Bogura-7 (Gabtali and Shahjahanpur) in 1991, and from Bogura-6 (Sadar) since June 1996, winning every time.

Previously, Wajed Hossain Tarafdar of BNP won from this seat in 1979. The party boycotted the 1986 and 1988 elections, while Mujibur Rahman won with the Paddy Sheaf symbol in both the 1991 and February 1996 polls.

Khaleda claimed the seat in the June 1996 election, but later vacated it. BNP’s Zahurul Islam then won the ensuing by-election. She went on to secure landslide victories in 2001 and 2008. Jamiruddin Sircar later won the 2008 by-election from the same constituency.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 election, and in 2018, Khaleda Zia -- by then convicted -- was barred from contesting. Fakhrul ran in her place, winning but refusing to take the oath.

Later, in the by-election, Ghulam Mohammad Siraj of BNP won on the Paddy Sheaf ticket. The party again boycotted the 2024 election.

On Oct 11, BNP’s central office in Dhaka hosted a meeting of nomination seekers for Bogura’s seven seats. Tarique joined virtually, while 22 local leaders attended in person.

Three days later, five leaders received calls to intensify campaign efforts -- but none for Bogura-6 or 7. Local activists began to suspect that members of the Zia family might contest from these constituencies.

That speculation proved true: the party has now confirmed that Khaleda will run from Bogura-7, while Tarique will contest from Bogura-6.

Khaleda is expected to run in three constituencies -- Bogura-7, Feni-1 and Dinajpur-3 -- while her son Tarique will contest only one.

Many had initially assumed Tarique would choose Bogura-7, his mother’s long-time seat.