Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Tariq Rahman on his party’s victory in the general elections, saying he looks forward to working with Rahman to strengthen bilateral ties.
Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s stated position to support a democratic and inclusive Bangladesh. (Facebook | Narendra Modi)Preliminary results compiled by Bangladesh Media showed the BNP and its allies leading in 181 of the 299 seats for which elections were held on Thursday. Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies, including the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), came second with 61 seats.
“I extend my warmest congratulations to Mr. Tariq Rahman for leading BNP to a decisive victory in the Bangladesh parliamentary elections,” Modi said in a social media post. This victory shows the confidence of the people of Bangladesh in your leadership.
Modi reiterated India’s stated position to support a democratic and inclusive Bangladesh and said he looked forward to working with Rahman to build bilateral ties.
He said, India will stand in support of a democratic, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh. “I look forward to working with you to strengthen our multilateral relationship and advance our common development goals.”
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Also read: ‘India in support of inclusive Bangladesh’: PM Modi congratulates Tariq Rahman on BNP’s victory in Bangladesh elections
Polling in 299 of the 300 parliamentary constituencies was largely peaceful, with the Election Commission reporting just over 60% of the vote, with around 1 million security personnel deployed.
The BNP, which has been out of power for nearly two decades, has a history of fraught relations with India, especially under the leadership of late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
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Despite this legacy, the Indian government made an outreach to the BNP leadership, with Modi offering assistance for Zia’s treatment before his death and sending External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to represent New Delhi at his funeral. Jaishankar also handed over a letter from Modi to Rahman, in which the prime minister promised to work with the BNP at a time when it was becoming clear that the party would win the elections.
The 60-year-old Rahman was elevated to the post of Prime Minister after winning two constituencies in Dhaka and Bogra. He returned to Bangladesh last December after 17 years of self-exile.
Jamaat-e-Islami, once a close ally of the BNP that was barred from contesting the election by the previous Awami League government, won about 50 seats while the NCP won just a few, with student leaders unable to translate their role into nationwide protests that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government from political power in August 2024.
The BNP has already indicated that it will form the government on its own and the Indian side will breathe a sigh of relief to see the Jamaat with its Islamist agenda and hardline politics out of power.
The Indian side is now expected to focus on rebuilding ties with Bangladesh, which went unchallenged after Hasina fled to New Delhi and a caretaker government led by Muhammad Yunus took over. The two sides have repeatedly quarreled over various issues, including the oppression of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, water distribution. and trade.
