Expelled, sidelined and later reinstated, BNP leader Zahir Uddin Swapon has returned to Parliament after a long political journey marked by setbacks, organisational roles, and a decisive electoral comeback.
Swapon began his parliamentary career in 1996 when he won the Barishal-1 seat as a BNP candidate in the sixth national parliamentary election. As the parliament was short-lived, he served from 15 February to 12 June 1996.
He returned to Parliament after winning the eighth national election in 2001 and served as an MP until 2006. However, he lost the Barishal-1 seat to an Awami League candidate in the ninth national election in 2008.
Within the party, Swapon built his influence mainly as an organiser focused on information and communication. Around 2001, he was appointed information and research secretary of the BNP central executive committee.
He later served as convener of the party’s media cell, chief editor of the communication cell and director of Bangladesh Nationalist Research and Communication.
In 2008, during the army-backed caretaker government, BNP expelled him on allegations of supporting a reform proposal.
At the time, then secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan had supported the reform initiative. However, after the political situation normalised, party chairperson Khaleda Zia reversed the position and removed Swapon from the party.
After remaining outside party politics for nearly a decade, BNP brought him back during a difficult period for the party. In 2024, he became a member of the party’s advisory council and also an adviser to the chairperson.
Swapon returned to electoral success in the 13th national parliamentary election, winning the Barishal-1 seat as a BNP nominee. In the election held on 13 February 2026, he secured victory with the sheaf of paddy symbol, receiving 100,552 votes.
He defeated Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Kamrul Islam Khan, who received 46,263 votes, by a margin of 54,289 votes. BNP won all six parliamentary seats in Barishal in the election.
Swapon has also faced several arrests during periods of political violence and movements.
On 3 December 2018, while contesting as a BNP candidate, he wrote to the Election Commission seeking security for his family and party activists. In 2022, he publicly spoke about the arrest of senior leaders ahead of a rally protesting the increase in fuel prices.
On 2 November 2023, police arrested him from Gulshan in Dhaka. He faced remands and imprisonment in multiple cases before securing bail on 1 March 2024.
