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Published : 27 Dec 2025, 12:16 PM
BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has completed the formal process to be added to Bangladesh’s voter list, a legal requirement for contesting the upcoming general election.
He arrived at the Election Training Institute (ETI) building in Agargaon around 1pm on Saturday, where he provided fingerprints, iris scans and other biometric information to be added to the voter list.
After completing the formalities, he left the ETI complex around 1:17pm, heading to his in-laws’ residence in Dhanmondi.
Earlier, ASM Humayun Kabir, director general of the National Identity Registration Wing, had said it would take “a maximum of one day” for Tarique to receive his national identity card (NID) after submitting fingerprints, iris scans and other biometric information.
Registration as a voter is a legal requirement for contesting parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, although candidates may register in any constituency to meet the condition.
The deadline for collecting and submitting nomination papers for the Feb 12 general election is Dec 29.
Nomination papers have already been collected on behalf of Tarique for the Bogura-6 constituency, with required documents to be submitted at the time of filing.
Bangladesh first prepared a photo-based voter list in 2007–08, when Tarique was in prison. After his release in 2008, he travelled to London for medical treatment and did not return to the country for many years, meaning he did not receive an NID card. However, following the political changes brought about by the July 2024 Uprising, his wife Zubaida Rahman, returned to Bangladesh and registered as a voter.
Earlier in the day, Tarique visited the graves of Inqilab Moncho leader Osman Hadi and national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam at Dhaka University. His convoy left the National Poet’s Mausoleum complex around 11:40am before heading to the ETI building.
Unlike the previous two days, when he was seen travelling in a bulletproof bus, Tarique arrived on Saturday in a white SUV.
Tarique returned to Bangladesh on Dec 25 after spending more than 17 years in exile in the United Kingdom. On Friday, he visited the grave of his father, BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman, before travelling to Savar to pay tribute to the fallen heroes of the 1971 Liberation War at the National Memorial.
