BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman is scheduled to visit Sylhet after nearly two decades to launch the party’s campaign for the upcoming 13th National Parliament Election.
BNP sources said he will arrive in Sylhet by air on 21 January at night.
On the morning of 22 January, he will visit the shrines of Hazrat Shah Jalal Hazrat Shah Paran in Sylhet. Tarique Rahman will begin the party’s campaign activities formally after that.
At 11:00am he will address the first rally at Sylhet’s historic Alia Madrasah ground. BNP leaders and activists from Sylhet and Sunamganj districts will attend the event.
Tarique Rahman is scheduled to travel by road to Moulvibazar afterwards. He will address a second rally at the Ainpur playground in Sherpur area of Khalilpur union under Moulvibazar Sadar upazila at around 1pm.
BNP will officially introduce its nominees for the four parliamentary constituencies of the district at this rally.
Later in the afternoon he will attend another rally in Habiganj, at a field next to the Shayestaganj upazila complex.
Moulvibazar district BNP and its affiliated organisations have begun extensive preparations for the Tarique Rahman’s visit. On 11 January, the district BNP hosted a joint preparatory meeting at Bengal Community Center in Moulvibazar town.
Leaders of district, upazila and municipal BNP units, front organisations and nominated candidates from the four constituencies took part in that meeting.
They discussed stage construction, sound systems, pandal setup, volunteer deployment, traffic, parking management and security arrangements.
Field inspections have already been completed and publicity campaigns for Tarique Rahman’s visit are under way across the district.
BNP leaders said Moulvibazar has not hosted a top-level party rally in nearly seventeen years. The upcoming event has created an upbeat atmosphere in the district, and they expect the turnout to exceed one lakh people at the rally.
The party previously held rallies at the same location when late finance minister and BNP standing committee member M Saifur Rahman brought Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia to the district.
Local residents from Khalilpur, Monumukh and Akhailkura unions have expressed strong enthusiasm ahead of Tarique Rahman’s visit and intend to highlight long-standing development demands, including a full-fledged medical college in Moulvibazar, specialist doctors and modern facilities at the Sadar General Hospital, reopening of Shamshernagar Airport and a new Dhaka–Sreemangal train service.
BNP national executive committee member and BNP nominee for Moulvibazar-3, M Naser Rahman, said “We are very pleased that he is coming to Moulvibazar. It is a great opportunity for us to welcome him. Our supporters and well-wishers will come however they can.”
He added “I will support people by providing transport service to reach the rally. But we have limitations in transport, so we ask especially the people of Khalilpur, Monumukh and Akhailkura to walk from nearby areas so that the ground fills by 1:00pm. We expect a turnout in the hundreds of thousands.”
Moulvibazar district BNP convener Md Fayzul Karim Moyun said “We are very happy and honoured that he chose Moulvibazar right after Sylhet. We see no obstacles. The field is larger than the one where the Khaleda Zia rally took place. Inshallah it will be filled with enthusiastic people who wants to listen to our new BNP Chairman.”
District BNP member secretary Md Abdur Rahim Ripon said the local population was waiting eagerly. “A historic rally will take place here,” he said.
Former district BNP general secretary Mizanur Rahman noted that Ainpur field covered Khalilpur, Monumukh and Akhailkura. “In the past, Begum Khaleda Zia and Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman came here. This time we are receiving our Chairman in our own area. It is an honour for us.”
Tarique Rahman last visited Sylhet in 2005 as BNP senior joint secretary general. He attended a union-level delegates’ conference at Sylhet District Stadium. He has previously referred Sylhet as his “second home”.
His return has generated heightened interest, anticipation and enthusiasm among BNP supporters and residents across Sylhet, Moulvibazar and Habiganj.
