Tarique Rahman visits EC to register as voter

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman visited the Election Commission’s National Identity Wing in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Saturday to complete his National Identity Card (NID) registration and enlist as a voter.

Tarique arrived at the National Identity Wing office, housed at the Electoral Training Institute, at around 1pm. As part of the process, he is scheduled to submit the required documents and provide biometric information.

Earlier, his wife Zubaida Rahman and their daughter Zaima Rahman reached the same office at approximately 12:26pm. They completed the formalities and left around 12:45pm, before Tarique’s arrival.

According to BNP sources, Tarique, Zubaida and Zaima have already completed the online voter registration process. They are expected to be registered as voters in the Dhaka-17 constituency under DNCC Ward No. 19, using the address of House No. 196 in Gulshan-2.

Before visiting the Election Commission, Tarique paid tribute at the grave of Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inquilab Moncho, who succumbed to his injuries a week after being shot on December 12. Accompanied by senior BNP leaders, Tarique placed a wreath at Hadi’s grave at around 11:30am, offered fateha and joined a munajat seeking the departed soul’s salvation. The prayer was led by Abu Bakar Siddique, Hadi’s elder brother.

Tarique and his party colleagues later placed wreaths at the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University Central Mosque and joined another munajat there.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, and Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan, among others, were present at the programmes.

Members of the police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the Shahbagh and Dhaka University areas to ensure security.

Tarique left his Gulshan Avenue residence at around 10:40am in a white bulletproof SUV and reached the Dhaka University campus at about 11:15am under tight security.

Following his visit to the Election Commission, Tarique is scheduled to visit Mahbub Bhaban in Dhanmondi, the residence of his father-in-law, before going to Evercare Hospital to see his ailing mother.

He was earlier expected to visit the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), commonly known as Pangu Hospital, to meet those injured in the July 2024 mass uprising. However, the visit was cancelled. In a Facebook post on Saturday morning, BNP’s media cell said the programme was dropped as there were no injured victims of the uprising currently admitted there.

Sharif Osman Hadi, a leader of Inquilab Moncha and a prospective candidate for Dhaka-8, was shot in the head on December 12 while travelling in a rickshaw on Culvert Road in Puratan Paltan, a day after the Election Commission announced February 12 as the date for the next national election. He was later airlifted to Singapore for advanced treatment, where he died on the night of December 18. Hadi was buried beside the grave of Kazi Nazrul Islam on December 20.

Aged 32, Hadi was a prominent figure in the July 2024 uprising and served as the spokesperson of Inquilab Moncha.

Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh on Thursday morning after nearly 17 years abroad. His return has drawn widespread attention and strong emotional reactions from BNP leaders, activists and supporters nationwide, with party leaders describing the homecoming as historic.