Bumpy road ahead for Tarique Rahman: BNP office set ablaze in Narayanganj days after landslide election victory

Days after Tarique Rahman-led BNP’s landslide victory in the 13th Bangladesh National Parliament election, the party’s local office in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj was set on fire. According to local media reports, the incident took place around 3.45 am on Saturday at the Shimulia Bazar area.

Rupganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shabzel Hossain said that miscreants smashed the windows of the BNP office and threw petrol or other inflammable substance before setting it on fire.

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Hossain said that the police have identified two suspects, and further investigation is currently underway. The office was constructed just a week ago and a party event was organized there just a week ago.

According to a leading Bangladeshi daily, furniture and other items inside the office were gutted in the fire before it was extinguished by the locals. “We suspect it was a petrol bomb. Otherwise, the fire would not have spread so quickly,” the daily quoted a local as saying.

Reacting to the incident, Upazila BNP General Secretary Bashir Uddin Bacchu accused political opponents of targeting the party office. The BNP will also file a formal complaint over the incident.

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“Necessary legal action will be taken following investigation once a complaint is lodged,” Bacchu said.

The incident comes just days after the BNP secured a landslide victory in the national elections. Bangladesh has been reeling under violence since the fall of Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime in 2024.

The elections, first after the Hasina regime’s fall, mark the political transition in the country. The newly elected BNP-led government is scheduled to take the oath on Monday afternoon at the South Plaza of the National Parliament. Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, will take oath as the Prime Minister.