Senior BNP leaders are increasingly being sidelined as younger figures gain influence in key policy decisions and internal party affairs.
After being left out of government, many senior leaders are also falling behind in party activities. There is growing speculation that the influential minister Salahuddin Ahmed may become the next secretary general.
Sensing the shift, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir recently said in an interview with a private television channel that he may retire soon, citing his age.
He expressed similar views in a conversation with TIMES of Bangladesh, where a sense of frustration was evident.
Several senior BNP leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said experienced figures are being strategically sidelined, leaving many disillusioned and withdrawn from active politics.
“The situation is such that the chairman is sending the elderly into retirement,” one senior leader told TIMES.
Multiple leaders said BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is paying greater attention to relatively younger leaders in party forums, particularly sidelining those who were dominant during the tenure of Khaleda Zia, late BNP chairperson and former prime minister.
They said he appears uncomfortable with senior figures who were once influential.
Several leaders pointed to the growing influence of London-based younger leaders, who are now acting as close advisers despite lacking field-level experience in governance or party management.
Those aligned with them are increasingly securing positions in both the party and the government, they added.
Some leaders said Tarique Rahman believes these foreign-educated younger figures bring more modern and innovative thinking and are better suited to implement the party’s 31-point reform agenda.
Senior leaders had expected that, after two decades out of power, their experience would be valued in running the new government. They believed younger leaders would be guided by seniors before gradually assuming leadership roles.
However, the 12 February landslide election victory left many senior leaders surprised during cabinet formation just two months ago.
Apart from the prime minister, only six of the 25 full ministers had previously served in BNP governments, while two had served under the Ershad regime.
Prominent leaders, including Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Mirza Abbas, and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, were excluded from the cabinet.
Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram was included but assigned a relatively less important ministry.
Later, Mirza Abbas was appointed as an adviser to the prime minister with ministerial rank, but unlike others, he was not given responsibility for any ministry.
Hafiz Uddin Ahmed was made speaker of parliament, effectively distancing him from party affairs, and he later resigned from the standing committee despite no formal requirement.
Several BNP leaders said Tarique Rahman is sidelining senior leaders to consolidate his authority within the party.
However, for now, they are unlikely to be removed from the standing committee, the party’s highest policymaking body, with younger leaders expected to fill vacant positions instead.
Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar and Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah, both inactive due to age-related illness, may be removed from the standing committee.
Selima Rahman may also be dropped for health reasons.
BNP is preparing to hold its national council later this year, where Salahuddin Ahmed is widely expected to be made secretary general.
Significant changes are also likely in divisional organisational posts, with many leaders from the 1990s student movement expected to enter the central executive committee.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the party is working towards holding the council by the end of the year, where changes in key positions will be made.
“I am getting older. I have been the secretary general for a long time. Now a change is needed,” he said, adding that younger leaders should come forward.
Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain echoed the view, saying younger leaders should take on greater responsibility despite the experience held by senior figures.
