“NEVER FULFILLED”
Rahman, 60, better known in Bangladesh as Tarique Zia, assumed leadership of the BNP following the death of his mother, former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who died in December at the age of 80.
“He will carry forward the legacy of his parents,” said Harun Ur Rashid, a 40-year-old die-hard BNP supporter, referring to Zia and her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981.
Bangladesh, home to one of the world’s largest Muslim-majority populations, has a significant Sufi following, and parties have traditionally launched campaigns in Sylhet, home to the centuries-old shrine of Shah Jalal.
Supporters lined the streets on Wednesday night as Rahman prayed at the shrine, cheering as his election bus passed by.
Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposes Sufi mystical interpretations of the Koran, begins its campaign in the capital Dhaka, in the constituency of its leader Shafiqur Rahman.
Ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamists are seeking a return to formal politics after years of bans and crackdowns.
Since Hasina fled to India, key Islamist leaders have been released from prison, and Islamist groups have grown increasingly assertive.
The National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by student leaders who spearheaded the uprising, and who have formed an alliance with Jamaat, will also launch their rally in Dhaka.
Engineer Raqibul Hasan Shawon, 26, watched the BNP rally from the sidelines.
“I haven’t decided whom to vote for yet,” he said. “We have heard commitments before, but they were never fulfilled.”
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