Who is Tarique Rahman? Zia dynasty heir and frontrunner for Prime Ministerial post in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Elections: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was ahead of Islamist Jamaat‑e‑Islami, according to early trends, as counting continued after Bangladesh held a pivotal national election on Thursday. The election was the first since the 2024 student-led uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina after fifteen years of Awami League rule.

The election was a direct contest between Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a coalition of 11 parties, led by the resurgent Jamaat-e-Islami party’s chief, Shafiqur Rahman.

Rahman emerged as a frontrunner for the prime ministerial post in most of the opinion polls. Rahman was ahead in both the Dhaka and Bogura constituencies that he contested, as early trends poured in on Thursday night.

Rahman returned to Bangladesh to fight the elections in December 2025, after more than 17 years of self-imposed exile in London. He took over leadership of the BNP from his mother, Khaleda Zia, a giant of Bangladeshi politics and longtime political nemesis of Hasina. Zia died just five days after Rahman’s return home in December.

Rahman’s time in self-imposed exile in London, living in the suburb of Kingston with his wife and daughter, is said by associates to have mellowed him, according to one of his Guardian profiles.

Back then, Tarique was facing trial on a slew of graft charges.

He left a note at the airport that read: " I, Tarique Rahman, do hereby declare that as of today, 11 September 2008 I resign the post of senior joint secretary general of the BNP and thereby, retire from active politics."

Tarique was jailed in 2007 as part of an anti-corruption drive by a military-backed caretaker government on charges he denies. In 2008, he was released to seek medical treatment in London, after being so badly tortured in jail that he was taken to the plane in a wheelchair.

During Hasina’s subsequent 15-year rule, he was convicted of a slew of terror and corruption charges, which he alleges were politically motivated to keep him out of Bangladesh. In 2024, after Hasina’s fall, the courts overturned his convictions, finally freeing him to return home.

Tarique's father, Ziaur Rahman, was a Pakistani military officer who would later become a Bir Uttom recipient and the president of Bangladesh. His mother, Khaleda Zia, was a homemaker who later became Bangladesh's prime minister.

Rahman began his education at BAF Shaheen College, Dhaka.

After completing his secondary and higher secondary education, he was first admitted to the Law Department of Dhaka University in the 1985-86 academic year, and then changed departments and enrolled in the Department of International Relations. However, during his second year of graduation, he dropped out and started a business in the textile industry and shipping sector.

Rahman was active in BNP campaign activities during the 1991 national election in constituencies where his mother, Khaleda Zia, was a candidate. This was the time of Bangladesh’s transition from military rule to an elected government.

Following the BNP’s victory in the 1991 national election, Rahman continued to be involved in party activities in Bogra. During the 1996 national election, he did not contest any parliamentary seat and instead coordinated campaigns for constituencies his mother contested.

Rahman rose to prominence in the BNP during his mother’s tenure as prime minister in the early 2000s. Between 1996 and 2001, during the tenure of the Awami League government, Rahman was involved in opposition political activities. In the 2001 national election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a two-thirds majority.

Though Rahman did not serve an official role in the previous regime, he was seen as having undue influence and, in a leaked 2008 diplomatic cable, was described as “a symbol of kleptocratic government”.

On 8 December 2009, Rahman was elected Senior Vice Chairman of the BNP at its 5th National Council held in Dhaka. After Sheikh Hasina's fall in August 2024, Rahman pledged to return to Bangladesh once the cases against him were dropped. He also pledged to support the interim government's reform process.

On 13 June 2025, Rahman met Bangladesh's chief advisor Muhammad Yunus, who was on a visit to the United Kingdom. On 25 December 2025, Rahman, along with his wife, Zubaida Rahman, and daughter, Zaima Rahman, returned to Bangladesh, ending his exile since 2008. Five days later, Rahman's mother, Khaleda Zia, died after a prolonged illness. On 9 January 2026, Rahman became the chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

During his campaign, Rahman positioned himself as a voice for economic recovery, stability, and democratic restoration in a nation ruled by exiled Hasina for 15 years. And if trends hold, BNP is going to win elections, and Rahman poised to be the next Prime Minister of Bangladesh from the Zia family.

(With agency inputs)