Tarique Rahman Returns to Bangladesh After 17-Year Exile; Launches BNP’s 2026 Election Campaign

In a watershed moment for South Asian politics, Tarique Rahman, the Acting Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), returned to Dhaka on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025, after nearly 17 years in self-imposed exile in London. Met by hundreds of thousands of supporters, the 60-year-old “Prince” of the Zia dynasty delivered a high-stakes “homecoming” speech that echoed Martin Luther King Jr., declaring a “plan for a new Bangladesh.” His arrival officially kickstarts the BNP’s campaign for the February 12, 2026, general election, an event that follows the dramatic ousting of his arch-rival, Sheikh Hasina, in a violent uprising earlier this year.