Staff Reporter:
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed has expressed hope that the party’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman will return to Bangladesh by November.
He shared the optimism while speaking to journalists at his residence in the capital’s Gulshan on Friday afternoon.
When asked if there was any specific date fixed for Tarique Rahman’s return, Salahuddin replied, “You will know the exact date very soon. I believe he will return within November.”
Responding to a question on which constituencies Tarique Rahman might contest in the upcoming national election, Salahuddin said, “The party’s acting chairman will certainly participate in the election — he has already confirmed that in interviews. The constituency will be decided later. He can contest from any seat in Bangladesh.”
Regarding BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s participation in the next election, the senior BNP leader said, “We hope our leader Begum Khaleda Zia will decide based on her health condition whether she will contest. We sincerely want her to take part in the polls.”
Salahuddin also informed that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is planning to give the green signal to its candidates for 200 constituencies within this month.
Asked about a possible alliance with the Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP), Salahuddin said discussions were ongoing, but no formal talks had yet been held on forming an alliance. “We have to wait to see whether BNP and NCP will eventually form a coalition,” he added.
He further noted that if the parties had joined alliances, candidates could have contested under other parties’ electoral symbols. “Most parties had agreed to that change, and we were optimistic. But the way the amended RPO has been passed, smaller parties will now be less encouraged to form alliances,” Salahuddin remarked.
