'Certain Possibilities' In Uncertain Times: Is Tarique Rahman Being Groomed As Bangladesh’s Next PM?

Last Updated:December 23, 2025, 18:16 IST

A senior BNP leader told News18 that the party is preparing for 'multiple political scenarios', including a broad-based alliance ahead of next year's elections

Tarique Rahman’s return to his country after almost two decades comes at a moment of unprecedented political churn. File pic/AFP

The much-hyped return of ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, to Bangladesh this week has reignited an old question that has been reverberating across the country’s political circles for almost a year. Is Khaleda Zia’s elder—who left the country after 2008 and went into a self-imposed exile—being positioned as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s prime ministerial face?

While senior leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) remain officially cautious, the speculation is no longer confined to drawing rooms, party offices, and WhatsApp groups. It is now a live political debate.

‘Khaleda Zia to take final call’

Sources within the BNP ranks and files acknowledge that “certain possibilities" are being actively discussed. However, they insist the final call rests with party chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is currently undergoing treatment in hospital.

Despite her sensitive and fragile health condition, party insiders say she continued to monitor political developments closely and remained firmly in control of strategic decisions even before being admitted to the hospital.

Tarique Rahman’s return to his country after almost two decades comes at a moment of unprecedented political churn. With the Awami League facing a ban, Sheikh Hasina being in political exile and trying to run a campaign from a foreign land, and her party’s organisational machinery having been effectively dismantled, the opposition senses a historic opening. For the BNP, this is not just an election cycle. It is a potential return to power after nearly 15 years in the political wilderness.

For many within the BNP ranks, projecting a familiar name may offer continuity, emotional recall, and also organisational cohesion. For others, it raises uncomfortable questions about dynastic politics at a time when Bangladesh’s electorate, particularly its young voters, has been demanding institutional credibility over lineage.

A changed political field, and difficult alliances

A senior BNP leader told News18 that the party is preparing for “multiple political scenarios", including a broad-based alliance. In this calculus, Jamaat-e-Islami could emerge as a crucial player. With the Awami League out of contention, Jamaat’s organisational depth and street-level reach may prove decisive in several constituencies, said another source who does not want to be named.

“Yet this alignment carries risks. While it may consolidate votes, it could also sharpen ideological fault lines and invite international scrutiny, particularly at a time when Bangladesh’s democratic transition is under close global observation," he added.

The BNP leadership is aware that merely returning to power will not be enough. “The next government, if led by the BNP, will also inherit a fractured polity, an economy under strain, and an electorate deeply sceptical of political promises. Whether Tarique Rahman can convincingly represent renewal rather than restoration remains an open question. We will have to restructure and recalibrate everything, starting from our global foreign policy to the neighbour policies, including the one we have with India," he added.

However, for now, the party is choosing ambiguity over announcement. But in Bangladesh’s fast-shifting political landscape, silence itself is a signal. And as Tarique Rahman lands on home soil, the question is no longer whether the BNP will return, but in whose name it will seek to govern.

News world 'Certain Possibilities' In Uncertain Times: Is Tarique Rahman Being Groomed As Bangladesh’s Next PM?

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