For nearly two decades, Tarique Rahman, son of Khaleda Zia, lived in exile, voiceless in his own country, literally demonised by a state that banned his speeches, and dismissed by critics as a dynast with delusions of power. Now, this man long derided as Begum’sExiled Prince is back in Bangladesh, and he is not just relevant again; he is dominant by margins. He will be the next prime minister of the protest-marred nation. 60-year-old Tarique Rahman’s return, after staying in exile for 17 years, coincides with a political reset in Bangladesh few thought was possible. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by his mother for years, which he now leads as acting chairman, won a landslide parliamentary election on Friday, returning to power after nearly two decades. It was the country’s first election since the 2024 uprising that forced Sheikh Hasina out of the country and to take asylum in India. For India, the victory isn’t just about the new government next door, but it signals a generational shift, a shift in power dynamics in South Asia.

Rahman, 60, does not look like a firebrand revolutionary. He speaks softly, sometimes even self-deprecatingly, unlike many in his home country. “I’m not very good at talking anyway,” he said in his interview with TIME magazine after his return. Though this statement was full of irony for a man whose speeches were banned in Bangladesh for more than a decade.

But this time, the people of Bangladesh backed him. Hundreds of thousands celebrated his “homecoming” at Dhaka airport on December 25, 2026. Five days later, on December 30, his mother, Khaleda Zia died of prolonged illness, leaving behind a huge legacy. Zia's death also signalled an undercurrent that has now come to the fore with her party sweeping Bangladesh elections.

Soon after the death of his mother, Rahman said, “It’s very heavy in my heart,” but he told TIME, “Responsibility doesn’t pause for grief.”

The word that keeps surfacing in Tarique Rahman’s remarks is responsibility. And it does matter, as it captures the moment Bangladesh is living through and why India should pay attention without unease. This isn’t about hostility or rejection. It’s about a country stepping into a new phase, where certainty has given way to motion.

For years, New Delhi dealt with a familiar partner. That chapter has closed. What replaces it isn’t antagonism, but a Bangladesh shaped by younger voices and present-day pressures. For this generation, the 1971 war that India had to fight with Pakistan, followed by the creation of Bangladesh, is honoured history, not lived memory. Bangladesh post-2024 has emerged from mass protests, mass arrests, rising costs, and young voices waiting to be heard.

Iman Kalyan, Lahiri Professor at Dept. of International Relations, Jadhavpur University, said: “It will be good for India because you know that prior to his coming into power, (External Affairs Minister) S. Jaishankar had already communicated with him… And BNP has a traditional experience of running a government with India… India can actually support Tariq Rahman if he wants to eradicate the radical forces from Bangladesh.”

Will Bangladesh’s proximity to China impact its ties with India? “China, the US will always try to have a deep state in Bangladesh. So, they will always try to disturb India in that way. But…”, Kalyan said that India has historically maintained respect for democratic processes in Bangladesh, even when Khaleda Zia was the leader of the opposition.

“Tarique Rahman… there is nothing against India,” he said, adding that “Yunus has completely failed as far as minority protection and the protection of the liberal voices in Bangladesh is concerned. So, now Tariq is the next alternative to India. We have nothing to do right now other than supporting him.”

So Rahman represents uncertainty but not hostility.

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