United News of Bangladesh

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman will formally launch his party’s election campaign for the 13th national parliamentary election from Sylhet on January 22. “Tarique Rahman will go to Sylhet on January 22. However, the detailed tour plan is yet to be finalised,” his Press Secretary Saleh Shibly told UNB. Traditionally, Shibly said, the BNP begins its national election campaign from Sylhet by offering fateha at the shrines of Hazrat Shah Jalal (R) and Hazrat Shah Paran (R). “During the visit, he will offer fateha at both shrines. It has not yet been decided where the campaign will formally begin, but I believe it will start in Sylhet after visiting the two shrines,” he said. He also said the detailed programme of Tarique Rahman’s visit and election campaign will be finalised soon. On Saturday, while exchanging greetings with editors and senior journalists at a hotel in Dhaka, Tarique said his party will go to people with its plans from January 22. According to the election schedule, symbols will be allocated to candidates on January 21, while formal electioneering will begin on January 22. Tarique’s northern region tour postponed at EC’s request Earlier, following an emergency meeting of the party’s Standing Committee on Friday night, the BNP announced the postponement of Tarique Rahman’s planned tour of the northern districts. After the meeting, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Tarique’s scheduled four-day tour of the northern region had been postponed following a request from the Election Commission (EC). The BNP Chairman planned to begin his tour of the northern districts today (January 11) to pay tributes to national leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and Abu Sayed, a martyr of the 2024 student-led mass uprising. He was also scheduled to visit Dinajpur to offer fateha at the grave of his maternal grandmother. Party sources said Tarique Rahman, who assumed the post of party chairman on Friday night, will visit all divisions during the election campaign period—from 6:00am on January 22 to 7:30am on February 10—to seek votes for the candidates of his t and alliance partners.  

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has gifted a house to the family of Mohammad Masud, a Jubo Dal leader who was  killed in ‘crossfire by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), in 2016 in Feni’s Sonagazi upazila. BNP central leaders inaugurated the newly built house for Masud’s family on Wednesday in Char Chandia village of Sonagazi. Tarique questions reform focus, fears delay in people's govt According to local sources, Masud’s wife, Ayesha Akhter, had been struggling to survive with her daughter. Upon learning of her hardships, Tarique Rahman, also the main patron of ‘Amra BNP Paribar,’ took the initiative to build the house for her. Ayesha recounted that her husband was arrested by RAB on June 22, 2016, from Kumira in Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram. Three days later, he was  killed in a  repoted gunfight in a field near Char Chandia Union Parishad, following what she claimed were false allegations. Expressing gratitude for the house provided by Tarique Rahman and BNP, she added, “My husband sacrificed his life for the party. I hope BNP and its affiliated organisations will continue to support our family. BNP leaders present at the inauguration included Vice Chairmen Barkat Ullah Bulu and Abdul Awal Mintu, Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Treasurer M Rashiduzzaman Millat, and Chairperson’s Adviser Professor Joynal Abedin VP, among others.