Tarique Rahman urges vigilance against vote-rigging plot

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman is addressing an election rally at the Alia Madrasa ground in Sylhet on 22 January, 2026

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has urged people to remain alert against the conspiracy to rig votes.

“A conspiracy to rig votes is underway and urged people to remain alert against it. Like a party that has fled the country, a group within Bangladesh has also begun conspiring to manipulate the electoral process,” he said.

Tarique Rahman said this while speaking as the chief guest of an election rally at the Alia Madrasa ground in Sylhet on Thursday (22 January).

He said the nation had witnessed ballot snatching, dummy candidates and overnight elections over the past 16 years.

“During this period, people were deprived of their political and voting rights. Many lives had been lost in the struggle to restore political freedom and freedom of expression," he added.

He alleged that the country had effectively been mortgaged to foreign interests over the past 16 years.

“That is why we say—neither Delhi nor Pindi, nor any other country. Bangladesh must come first,” he said.

The BNP chief further claimed that those who stripped people of free speech and voting rights were also responsible for widespread killings, including the disappearance and death of BNP leader Ilias Ali and many others.

Earlier, BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman reached the Alia Madrasa ground in Sylhet to join a massive rally.

He was greeted by a thunderous ovation that swept across the sprawling grounds. Under a heavy security blanket, the BNP chief stepped onto the dais with a buoyant smile, waving to the sea of activists who had converged on the city.

He was joined on the platform by his spouse Zubaida Rahman and the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

‘Bangladesh has been looted in the name of development’

BNP chief also said “Over the past 15-16 years, we have seen how the wealth of this country’s people has been looted and smuggled abroad in the name of development."

“Take this highway from Dhaka to Sylhet or Sylhet to Dhaka, for example. In 2005, I came to Sunamganj. There was a flood. It took me about four and a half hours to get here.”

“But today, that same trip takes about 10 hours. Many people from this virtuous land of Sylhet travel to London. Those who go to London will know - it doesn’t even take that long to go to London! This is the peak of our development today.”

He said, “Over the past 15-16 years, we have seen how ballot boxes have been stolen in one election after another; how dummy elections have been held; how ‘overnight elections’ have been orchestrated.

And through these so-called elections, the right to vote and the political rights of the people of Bangladesh were stripped away. Today we have gathered here because of those who sacrificed their lives. Those people who took to the streets for us all.

“We have gathered here after the sacrifices of the lives of those people who have been oppressed and tortured in various ways. Today, because of the sacrifice of the lives of those Bangladesh people, we have embarked on the path to reclaiming these political rights.”

The BNP chairman said, “Dear brothers and sisters, that is why we want to say – ‘Take Back Bangladesh’. The goal of ‘Take Back Bangladesh’ is to reclaim the rights of the people of Bangladesh. That is why we have published a 21-point programme. Through this 21-point programme, if the BNP government is formed in the future, In Sha Alalh, we want to improve the fates of the people of this country.

‘The Bengali people saw who they are in 1971’

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has bashed Jamaat-e-Islami and the party’ recent activities during the launch of the election campaign in Sylhet.

He called a member of the audience to the stage and said, “You have been to the Kaaba Sharif. Who owns the Kaaba Sharif?”

The man responded, “Allah.”

Tarique then said, “We are all Muslims. Who is the owner of this world that we see in this day and age?”

The man again responded, “Allah.”

“Who is the owner of the sun and the stars that we see?” Tarique asked, and the answer came “Allah.”

The BNP Chairman asked, "Who is the owner of heaven?"

"Allah."

"Who is the owner of hell?"

"Allah,” the man said, as the crowd chanted in unison, “Allah, Allah."

Then Tarique said: “You all bore witness that the owner of hell is Allah; the owner of heaven is Allah; the owner of this world is Allah; the owner of the Kaaba is Allah. Brother, does anyone else have the power to give away what is owned by Allah? No. So, before the election, if a party says, ‘We will give you this, we will give you that,’ doesn’t that mean ‘I will sell you tickets?’”

“If they speak of things that are not owned by humans – isn’t that ‘Shirk’? If they speak of something that is owned by Allah, which only Allah has control over? Only Allah has rights over everything – Allah has rights above all.

“That is why they are cheating you already. Then think how they will cheat you after the election.”

The BNP chairman said, “They are not only deceiving the people, they are making those who are Muslims commit ‘Shirk’. We seek refuge in Allah.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, this country, this country, this beloved motherland, was liberated at the cost of the lives of millions of people during the war in 1971. We saw what roles people played during the liberation of this motherland. We saw who played a role in hundreds and thousands of our brothers being martyred. The honour of hundreds of thousands of the mothers and sisters of this country was defiled. The people of Bangladesh already know them.”

Tarique said, “We have to unite against this apostacy, this rashness, this lie. We have to take back Bangladesh.

"We have freed the country from tyranny, now we have to establish human rights. Just establishing the right to vote and speak is not enough; we have to make arrangements to empower people and raise them onto their own feet. We have to make arrangements so that every person in Bangladesh can eat properly and live well. We have to make arrangements so that every person can walk safely on the streets. That is what it means to take back Bangladesh."

The official schedule marked Jan 22 as the start of the candidates’ formal election campaign. It will continue until Feb 10.

From the early hours, streets around Alia Madrasa -- including Chowhatta, Zindabazar, Ambarkhana, Medical Road, Dargah Road were thronged with supporters, followers and well-wishers.

Candidates from six constituencies in Sylhet and five constituencies in Sunamganj attended the rally with their activists and supporters.