Mamata congratulates Tarique Rahman, people of B’desh on BNP’s poll victory

Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday congratulated Tarique Rahman, the Prime Minister-designate in Bangladesh, over the BNP’s emphatic victory in the general elections. Addressing Rahman as “bhai” (brother), Banerjee conveyed her best wishes to him on a social media post.

Banerjee also congratulated the people of Bangladesh for their participation in the general elections, which were conducted on Thursday. She also conveyed her greetings to the people of Bangladesh in advance of ‘Ramazan’.

“My hearty congratulations, ‘Shubhonandan’, to all my brothers and sisters, all the people in Bangladesh. My advance Ramazan Mubarak to all of them. For this great victory, my congratulations to my Tarique-Bhai, his party, and all the parties. Pray, you all will be well and happy. Wish that our relations with Bangladesh will always be cordial,” the Chief Minister said in her social media post.

Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman, who founded the BNP before his assassination in 1981, returned to Bangladesh after 17 years in exile in London. His leadership now carries high expectations among voters who viewed this election as a turning point, according to the political experts.

The BNP’s victory was seen as a “historic one” as it dislodged the Awami League (which was banned from fighting elections). The Awami League’s fall has been dramatic. A special tribunal in Bangladesh has sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia for crimes against humanity linked to the violent crackdown on the 2024 protests that ultimately led to her government’s collapse.

Meanwhile, former BJP state president Dilip Ghosh made a brief comment to the reporters that he was hopeful of improvement in the relations between India and Bangladesh in the coming days.