DHAKA: Tarique Rahman, who lived in London in self-exile for 17 years, has made a remarkable turnaround. The scion of one of the powerful political dynasties has led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party founded by his father to a forceful victory after 20 years.
The 60-year-old BNP Chairman was sworn in as Bangladesh Prime Minister for the first time on Tuesday.
His party bagged 209 out of 297 seats, while right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami, known to be close to Pakistan, secured 68 seats. The Awami League of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina was barred from contesting the 13th Parliamentary polls held on February 12.
The result was a major turnaround for the BNP, long targeted under the 15-year rule of Hasina’s Awami League government which collapsed following nationwide student-led protests in August 2024.
The BNP was founded by Rahman’s father Ziaur Rahman, a military ruler turned politician. The party was led by his mother Khaleda Zia for nearly four decades after the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman in 1981.
Five days after his return to Bangladesh amid a massive welcome in December last year, Rahman was struck by a personal tragedy as Khaleda Zia died after a prolonged illness.
Rahman became the chairman of the BNP in the absence of his mother at a time when the party was facing a state of political wilderness ahead of the polls. The evolving scenario did not allow him to spend some private days amid personal loss, as events unfolded so quickly, he scarcely had time to reflect.
Rahman is widely seen as a product of dynastic politics, but his family’s political background earned him a sort of acumen. He is credited with manoeuvring his party in a complicated scenario to ensure its key stake in the politics ahead of the general elections.
A soft-spoken Rahman drew massive crowds as he spearheaded the campaign for his party.
Since his return, Rahman noticeably adopted an approach of avoiding inflammatory rhetoric and calling instead for restraint and reconciliation despite the bitter relations of his family and himself in particular with the deposed Awami League regime. BNP eventually won the landslide victory, and Rahman became the new prime minister.
Rahman was born on November 20, 1965, in Dhaka. As a boy, he witnessed Bangladesh’s liberation struggle in 1971. He was arrested along with his mother and brother, only to be released on December 16, 1971, when Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. He studied international relations at the University of Dhaka, dropped out, and later started businesses in textiles and agro products. He was elected Senior Vice-Chairman of the BNP in 2009 and gradually became involved in the party’s reorganisation. Under the Awami League rule, Rahman became a central target of several corruption and criminal cases. He was convicted in absentia in some of the cases. He was sentenced to life in connection with a 2004 grenade attack on Hasina’s rally that killed 24 people and wounded dozens.
He has always denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated. He was acquitted in all cases during Muhammad Yunus’ interim rule following Hasina’s ouster.
In 2018, when Khaleda Zia was jailed on graft charges, Rahman was nominated as the Acting Chairman of the party. After her death, he became the chairman. According to analysts, the election results marked a remarkable reversal of fortune for Rahman, who left the country in 2008, saying he needed medical treatment after his release from detention under a military-backed caretaker administration.