By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON: Media reported on Monday said that the nomination papers of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, who recently returned to the country after 17 years in self-exile in London have been filed by party leaders for the upcoming national elections.
According to the Daily Star, Tarique will contest the Dhaka-17 constituency in the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad election, scheduled for February 2026.
The papers were filed at the office of the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner in Segunbagicha, it stated.
BNP chairperson’s adviser, Abdus Salam, who was accompanied by the chief adviser of the Doctors Association of Bangladesh, Farhad Halim Donar, submitted the nomination papers on Tarique Rahman’s behalf, the Daily Star reported.
The nomination papers were collected from Tarique on Sunday.
Tarique registered himself as a voter of the Dhaka-17 constituency, prompted senior BNP leaders to urge him to contest from this seat.
He spent 17 years in exile, the BNP Acting Chairman, Tarique Rahman, returns to Dhaka on December 25, in what is expected to be a major political event in the country’s history after the ousted of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year during the July Uprising.
Rahman, accompanied by his wife Zubaida Rahman and daughter, Zaima Rahman, arrived from London on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, bdnews24 reported.
Tarique said that he planned to build Bangladesh as an inclusive and safe state.
He expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome he received in his home country after 17 years of exile.
“Dear friends, sisters, and brothers across Bangladesh, Last Thursday was a day I will carry in my heart forever, the day I returned to the soil of my homeland after 17 long years. The warmth of your welcome, the sea of faces along the roads of Dhaka, and the prayers of millions are moments I will never forget. My deepest thanks to all The words cannot fully express the respect and love my family and I feel for this homecoming. To our supporters who stood by us through every trial and never lost hope, your courage continues to give me strength,” he said in a post on X.
Rahman was arrested during the army-backed caretaker government of 2007-08. After his release, he went to London with his family and did not return to the country.
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was sentenced and sent to prison in the Zia Orphanage Trust case–the BNP Standing Committee meeting appointed Rahman as acting chairman of the party in 2018.
He has led the party from London via video calls for past 7 years.
He was acquitted one by one of the cases filed during the Awami League period through legal battles, paving the way for his return to the country.
BNP had announced a partial list of candidates for the 13th parliamentary election, stating that Tarique Rahman would vote for the first time from the Bogura-6 constituency.
