He has a plan for Bangladesh, says Tarique Rahman in rousing speech

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely tipped to win the election to the National Assembly scheduled for 12 February 2026, and Tarique Rahman is the frontrunner for the next prime minister of the troubled nation.

Rahman returned to the country on Thursday, 25 December for the first time since 2008, when he and his family left for London after being released from prison and allowed to go abroad for medical treatment. He has been living in the UK in exile ever since.

Rahman formally joined the BNP at 22, and took part in the campaign ahead of the 1991 election. Since the Sheikh Hasina government imprisoned Khaleda in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case in 2018, Rahman has been serving as the acting chairman of the BNP.

Rahman (59) returned to Dhaka with his wife Zibaida, daughter Zaima and the family pet Zeba to an emotional welcome by party leaders. His wife has been visiting Dhaka to take care of his mother, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Two weeks ago she returned to London, and is now back in Bangladesh. The family visited the hospital where Khaleda Zia is on a ventilator, before reaching the family residence in Dhaka’s Gulshan locality.

During the Awami League's tenure, Rahman was convicted in absentia in five cases and faced around 100 lawsuits. Following the fall of the Hasina's government in August 2024, all charges against him were dropped, and there are currently no pending cases against him.

Addressing a mammoth crowd in the 300-feet area in Dhaka close to the July 36 Expressway, Rahman invoked American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, who had famously said, 'I have a dream' in a speech seeking civil liberties for African-Americans, equality and an end to segregation. Like Dr King, Rahman declared, he wanted to say he has "a plan for Bangladesh, a plan for the people of my country…"

His plan is meant to change the fortune of the people of his country, he said, and needed the help and cooperation of every citizen to implement it. He began his address by thanking the chief adviser to the interim government, Md Yunus, for arranging for the security of his family, and an appeal to maintain peace.

As in 1971, in 1975 and in 2024, people were yearning for freedom and democratic rights, he added. Paying homage to people who were killed and kidnapped during the earlier regime, he called upon the people to join hands to build the Bangladesh of their dreams.

Warning people of multiple conspiracies against the country, he cautioned the party cadre to remain disciplined and maintain peace. The foundation of a robust and stable democracy, he cautioned, and a sound economy required restraint and patience. People want peace and safety and justice and we must ensure them for everyone.

Around 1,000 loudspeakers, 30 LED screens, thousands of posters bearing images of Khaleda Zia, Rahman and his wife were displayed along the road. Large screens near the venue allowed supporters to watch the programme live.

Hundreds of billboards and posters have also been set up along roads between the airport and Gulshan. The BNP has also installed 30 large LED screens across the capital for people to watch the live telecast.

Some 20 medical camps complete with doctors, paramedics, medicines and ambulances were set up across Dhaka besides a temporary field hospital with an ambulance with ICU facilities to treat supporters in case of an emergency. The surge of people was such that it took Rahman three hours to reach the venue from the airport.