Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia and Son Tarique Rahman to Contest in Upcoming February Elections

Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh will participate in the upcoming February elections, according to an announcement from her political party.

Her son Tarique Rahman, 59, currently residing in Britain since 2008, will also be a candidate in the elections.

Bangladesh:

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) confirmed that former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will contest in three constituencies in the anticipated February elections.

At 80 years of age, Zia remains a dominant political figure in Bangladesh and her party is considered the frontrunner in the upcoming polls.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior BNP leader, made the announcement about her candidacy to reporters.

The uncompromising leader has experienced declining health after years of imprisonment under her political rival Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted during a mass uprising in August 2024.

Zia, who previously led Bangladesh three times, was imprisoned on corruption charges in 2018 under Hasina's administration, which also prevented her from seeking medical treatment abroad. She gained her freedom shortly after Hasina's forced departure from power last year.

Tarique Rahman, her son who has lived in London since 2008 claiming political persecution, will also contest the elections according to Alamgir.

Rahman, sometimes referred to as Tarique Zia in Bangladesh, has yet to return to his homeland since his departure. Following Hasina's fall from power, he was acquitted of the most serious charge against him—a life sentence given in absentia for a 2004 grenade attack on Hasina's rally, which he consistently denied involvement in.

For decades, Bangladesh's political landscape has been defined by the intense rivalry between Zia and Hasina, a conflict commonly known as the "Battle of the Begums," where "Begum" is an honorific title in South Asia for influential women.

This animosity traces back to 1975 when Hasina's father, independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated along with most of her family in a coup.

Three months following this event, Zia's husband Ziaur Rahman, then deputy army chief, effectively assumed control of the country. He became president in 1977 but was assassinated in 1981.

At just 35 years old and a mother of two, Zia inherited the leadership of the BNP.

Initially underestimated as a political newcomer, she proved herself a formidable opponent by rallying against military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad, later collaborating with Hasina to remove him from power in 1990.

The two women then alternated in power for the subsequent decade and a half.