The stature of Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has grown in recent years, especially after the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024.

During his official visit to London on June 10-13, Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus held a meeting with Rahman to discuss the date for the next general elections in Bangladesh. His decision to meet Rahman, who has been living in exile in the United Kingdom since 2008, indicates that the latter is seen as an important political player in Bangladesh’s politics, although he lives abroad.

“Son of General Ziaur Rahman, who came to power following a series of coups and counter-coups, founded the BNP, and became Bangladesh’s president in 1977, and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who ruled the country in 1991-1996 and 2001-2006, Tarique Rahman is the de facto leader of the BNP,” Sydney-based scholar Mubashar Hasan wrote for the Diplomat.

Yunus met Rahman amid a looming political deadlock in the country over the timeline for general elections. The BNP was threatening to mount countrywide protests against Yunus, who heads the interim government. According to informed sources from both the government and the BNP, the meeting was cordial, and the two leaders agreed to general elections being held in February 2026.

The BNP had been pushing for early elections and was in favor of elections being held by December 2025. The interim government, meanwhile, was saying it would hold elections only after reforms to Bangladesh’s Constitution, its judiciary and electoral institutions were completed. Recently, Yunus announced plans to hold elections in the first half of April 2026. A political deadlock was looming in the country. The agreement on elections in February is therefore an important compromise.

The London meeting has been hailed as ‘historic’ in Bangladesh and was celebrated countrywide. Bangladesh has rarely seen leaders from different parties work together, given the zero-sum politics and authoritarian style of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Yunus-Rahman agreement, therefore, signals a willingness on the part of the two leaders to avoid conflict. Yunus’ close aides told The Diplomat that he was very impressed with the BNP leader.

Amid the changing political landscape, two important questions merit examination. First, why did Yunus need to meet Rahman, and second, how should we understand the significance of the rise of Rahman?

Yunus was made chief adviser of the interim government soon after the ouster of the Hasina government on August 5, 2024. His appointment was the result of a consensus decision among the student leaders, who led the July-August uprising against Hasina; the BNP, which made the street protests strategic and resilient; the Army, which stopped shooting protesters, defying Hasina’s orders; and other smaller political parties.

However, some sections of the BNP have been of the view that Yunus did not seem inclined to hold elections as he was avoiding laying out a timeline for an election. Groups perceived to be close to Yunus were arguing online that he should remain in power for five years, further fueling the uncertainty about elections.

In a rare statement in May, Army Chief Waker-uz-Zaman said at a meeting of senior army officials that Bangladesh should hold elections in December. A few days later, Rahman too called from London for elections in December and said that people of the country “want to see free and fair elections under this government immediately.” Rahman added that the “government must fulfil people’s legitimate demands.”

Soon after, Yunus threatened to resign. Facing growing criticism, Yunus then announced elections in April 2026, ignoring the BNP’s demand for elections by December 2025.

The BNP rejected his timeline for three reasons. First, Yunus had not given a convincing explanation for why elections cannot be held in December, when the weather is mild and suitable for political campaigning.

Second, elections in April would be difficult for campaigning as the weather then is very hot. Besides, it would be after the month of Ramadan, when most people would be praying and fasting in the Muslim-majority country. Third, the BNP feared that Yunus would use these complications as an excuse to delay elections further.

After Yunus announced his plan to hold elections in April 2026, BNP sources confirmed to The Diplomat that they would organize a series of countrywide protests to pressure Yunus to advance the election. The London meeting seems to have averted unrest.

Critics have accused Rahman of corruption and violence.  Leaked diplomatic cables reveal that American diplomat James F Moriarty saw Rahman as a symbol of ‘kleptocratic government and violent politics’. Rahman was among scores of Bangladeshis who were convicted and awarded jail terms for their alleged role in a massive grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina in 2004. However, the allegations and trial were believed to be politically motivated. Indeed, the conviction and jail term were subsequently overturned.

When Hasina came to power in 2009, the Awami League government banned Rahman’s speeches and statements from being broadcast or printed in Bangladesh. Given his popularity among BNP activists, people with links to Rahman were arrested during AL rule.

During Khaleda Zia’s rule in 2001-2006, Rahman traveled across the length and breadth of the country, covering divisional cities and remote villages. He was able to establish a strong connection with the grassroots, which paid off when he formally took over the leadership of the party as its acting chairman in 2018, when his mother, Khaleda Zia, was arrested by the Hasina government.

Despite his long stay abroad, Rahman has grassroots support. Sources close to him told The Diplomat that in recent years, he has used WhatsApp and Zoom to connect with BNP activists at the grassroots in the remotest villages of the country. He would connect with people by enquiring about the well-being of their family members. To an ordinary BNP activist, the chance of having a direct conversation with the party’s acting chairman, who is also the son of the former president and former prime minister of the country, was uplifting and a matter of pride.

For Rahman, too, such direct conversations with grassroots activists gave him insights into the ground reality and helped him shape his political strategy. Despite severe repression by the AL government, the BNP grew stronger thanks to Rahman’s popularity at the grassroots level.

Over 15 years, the AL government tried to break the BNP through mass imprisonment of its leaders and activists, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings of its supporters. But it failed because Rahman not only quietly supported the families of BNP members who were victimized by the AL regime but also encouraged leaders at the grassroots to push for democracy.

According to Tasneem Khalil, the editor-in-chief of Netra News, an award-winning investigative news site, “Tarique Rahman’s organizational leadership is top-notch; he speaks the language of the grassroots.” In Khalil’s view, Rahman is the best bet for a future liberal democratic Bangladesh, as Khalil believes that under Yunus, right-wing hardline Islamists have gained ground.

A looming challenge for Rahman is that when he returns to Bangladesh, he will have to connect with millions of first-time Bangladeshi voters. Following the fall of Hasina, there have been reports of murderous infighting between BNP activists, and extortion by some BNP leaders and activists. This has made the BNP unpopular among a section of youth. To bring discipline to the party, Rahman has expelled thousands of activists for unlawful activities.

Many argue that Rahman needs to return to Bangladesh to take charge of the BNP on the ground. However, BNP insiders say that Rahman will not return immediately. They told the Diplomat that he would return after the Yunus government officially announces the election date, to engage in the election campaign.

Moving forward, Rahman’s challenge is to connect the BNP with Gen Z, who led the uprising against Hasina last year. Many of these young voters appear to be critical of the BNP against the backdrop of some of their activists’ alleged involvement in crime and extortion.

Rahman must be mindful of the fact that one of the key reasons behind the uprising against Hasina was the AL’s corruption and violence. He must chart a different route for the BNP.