, which paved the way for Ziaur Rahman's entrance to power and subsequently led to the establishment of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The party considers it as one of their foundational events.
Predecessors Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal On 22 February 1978, a new party,
Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal (JAGODAL), was formed with Justice
Abdus Sattar as the coordinator. Most of the prominent figures were from the advisory council that was running the country at that time. It was the first attempt to create a platform for the country's
nationalists. Major General (retd) M. Majid ul Haq, Professor
Syed Ali Ahsan, Shamsul Alam Chowdhury,
A.Z.M. Enayetullah Khan,
M. Hamidullah Khan, Jakaria Chowdhury, Professor Dr. M. R. Khan, and
Saifur Rahman were prominent figures. JAGODAL was dissolved on 28 August 1978 to consolidate its membership under the Jatiyatabadi Front.
Jatiyatabadi Front On 1 May 1978, the Jatiyatabadi Front or Nationalist Front was formed with Ziaur Rahman as the front's chief, and JAGODAL joined soon after its formation. A major portion of NAP (Bhashani) joined the front as well with
Mashiur Rahman. The election symbol of NAP (Bhashani), a sheaf of paddy, would become the symbol of the BNP.
Shah Azizur Rahman with some of his colleagues from
Muslim League.
Kazi Zafar Ahmed and a faction of the United Peoples Party, Maulana Matin with his Labour Party, and minority leader Rashraj Mandal with Tafsili Jati Federation also joined. Ziaur Rahman was their candidate for the presidential election of 3 June 1978. Ziaur Rahman won the election, defeating
M. A. G. Osmani of Ganatantrik Oikya Jote (United Democratic Alliance), which was backed by the Bangladesh Awami League.
Establishment The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was established on 1 September. The newly established party soon emerged as a
"hotchpotch" of leftists, rightists,
opportunists, and Pakistan-era
establishmenterians. The constitution of the party was drafted within 21 days of the formation with 76 members with Ziaur Rahman as the chief convener,
M. Hamidullah Khan as the Executive Secretary and Dr.
A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury was appointed as the Secretary-General. During this time, it attracted a large pool of supporters and activists who joined the newly formed student wing and youth wing. After the formation of the government, the first executive committee of the party was declared. A national standing committee was formed as the highest decision-making forum of the party with 12 members. A youth wing was formed in September 1978, which was named
Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Jubo Dal with Abul Kashem as its chief convener. The Dhaka unit convener was Saifur Rahman. Within a couple of months, the central executive committee of Jubo Dal was declared with Abul Kashem and Saifur Rahman as the President and general secretary respectively.
Mirza Abbas became the Dhaka unit President with Kamruzzaman Ayat Ali as the Secretary-General.
Early years (1979–1982) The BNP formed its first government after the 1979 Bangladesh general election. The first session of the parliament was on 2 April 1979. It elected Shah Azizur Rahman as prime minister and leader of the parliament.
Mirza Ghulam Hafiz was elected as the speaker of the parliament.
Asaduzzaman Khan from the Awami League became the leader of the opposition. On 30 May 1981, the founder of the party, President Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in the Chittagong Circuit House by a small group of military officials. After the
assassination of Ziaur Rahman, large crowds started protesting in major cities, including
Dhaka and
Chittagong. The funeral of Ziaur Rahman became a huge event with the participation of millions of people in Dhaka. In the 1981 Bangladeshi presidential election,
Abdus Sattar was elected. He formed the National Security Council to involve the
Bangladesh Armed Forces. Meanwhile, Vice President Mirza Nurul Huda resigned from his post in March 1982.
Struggle for democracy (1982–1990) Army Chief
Hussain Muhammad Ershad thwarted the elected government of Justice Sattar on 24 March 1982 and replaced him with Justice
A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury. The BNP was thrown out of power. Many of its leaders were imprisoned, including former Minister S.A. Bari, Saifur Rahman, Habibullah Khan, Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, Atauddin Khan, Jamal Uddin Ahmed, K.M. Obaidur Rahman, Abul Hasnat, and Moudud Ahmed. 233 BNP leaders were arrested from March to July 1982.
7-Party Alliance From 1983, Begum
Khaleda Zia became the
de facto decision-maker of the party. Under her leadership, the BNP formed a new anti-government alliance against the autocratic Ershad regime. It was named after the number of parties with it, the 7-party alliance. The BNP launched a massive anti-government movement after coordinating with the Awami League-led 15-party alliance in September 1983. The 7-Party Alliance arranged a mass gathering and called a nationwide strike on 1 November 1983. The strike had successful results. After that, the alliance called to surround the Secretariat on 28 November 1983 along with the 15-Party Alliance. Thousands of BNP activists led by then Executive Secretary (later designated Office Secretary)
M. Hamidullah Khan, surrounded the secretariat building at Paltan and made a large hole in the southern corner of the boundary wall of the building. The police retaliated with indiscriminate firing of live bullets. Both the 7-Party Alliance led by BNP and the 15-Party Alliance led by the Awami League declared a boycott of the election on 17 March. Both called a joint rally on 21 March and a nationwide strike on 22 March as the immediate program to thwart the forthcoming election. The night before the nationwide strike on 22 March, the Awami League called a meeting of the 15-Party Alliance, but
Sheikh Hasina refused to take part in the meeting. In the meeting, the majority of the parties, including the Awami League, were in favour of the election. General Khalilur Rahman of Awami League maintained close contact with the army headquarters during the meeting that night. Sheikh Hasina was discussing with General Khalil periodically. Both the Awami League and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami conceded a humiliating defeat in the election. In a joint declaration, the two alliances called for the "Siege Dhaka" program on 10 November 1987. The government imposed a ban on public gatherings ahead of the program, which was defied on the day and during the program, the capital of the country virtually went under the control of the opposition alliances. This incident infuriated the opposition and a nationwide protest was called on the following day. The government came hard-handed, and both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina were put under house arrest on 11 October. On the advice of Dr. Badruddoza Chowdhury, BNP chief Zia, on 21 June 1988, suspended the national standing committee and executive committee of the party for various reasons, including the failure to strengthen the party's leaders. During this opportunity, former military officers were also removed from leadership positions within the party.
M. Hamidullah Khan was relieved from his post as Executive Secretary. On 3 July 1988, Barrister
Abdus Salam Talukder, a distinguished lawyer, was assigned to the post of Secretary General of the party instead of
KM Obaidur Rahman. Soon after the removal of Obaidur, he, with
Jamal Uddin Ahmed and Abul Hasnat, formed a new party with the same name. On 17 July of the same year,
Shah Azizur Rahman dissolved the BNP faction with him and joined the party with his followers on 26 August. Barrister Abdus Salam Talukder restructured the BNP, making it a stronger political platform that thrived through a critical time with a goal to topple Ershad's regime.
1990 mass uprising The movement against Ershad started gaining momentum in October 1990. The BNP-led 7-party alliance, the Awami League-led 8-party alliance and the Leftist 5-party alliance started a movement to usurp Ershad on 10 October 1990 and declared a nationwide strike on that day. The strike claimed 5 lives, including three BNP activists who were rallying in front of the central office of the Jatiya Party when Jatiya Party cadres opened fire on the crowd. On 28 November, the opposition parties, including BNP and its student wing, defied the curfew and state of emergency and came out with large processions. The curfew and state of emergency were the last resort for Ershad, which became ineffective by the end of November 1990. On 3 December, the protests became more violent, and many died. Bombs were hurled at the Army Welfare Building, the
Sena Kalyan Bhaban at Motijheel. From 27 November to 3 December, more than fifty protesters died. On 4 December, the mass uprising took place, and Ershad declared his resignation.
Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU), which has always been a centre of all popular movements in the history of Bangladesh, came under the control of Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal after the election of 3 June 1990. The
Amanullah Aman-
Khairul Kabir Khokan panel backed by Chatra Dal won all the posts and took the lead of the students' movement in the
University of Dhaka. The series of student protests compelled the Ershad regime to think about a safe exit. On 7 December 1989, the BNP-supported White panel of teachers got the highest number of Deans elected from their panel, including Professor
Anwarullah Chowdhury, Professor
S M Faiz, Assistant Professor
M. Anwar Hossain and Associate Professor
Humayun Ahmed. The pro-BNP white panel of teachers, which dominated the Dhaka University Teachers Association, declared an all-out movement against the Ershad regime in 1990. All the teachers decided to resign from their posts on 29 November and confirmed their decision not to return to classes until the fall of Ershad. The firm reaction from the teachers jeopardised the Ershad regime. After the fall of Ershad, because of the commitment to the national interest, the White panel of teachers won a decisive victory on 24 December 1990 in the election of the Dhaka University Teachers Association once again, with Professor Anwarullah Chowdhury as the President of the association, with Professor M. Anwar Hossain as the general secretary.
First Khaleda premiership (1991–1996) The
first Khaleda ministry was the country's government during the 5th legislative session of the
Jatiya Sangsad following the
1991 Bangladeshi general election. It began on 20 March 1991 and but had to be sworn in again on 19 September after the
12th constitutional amendment took effect following a
constitutional referendum. In accordance to the amendment,
all executive powers were transferred from the president to the prime minister and thus
Khaleda Zia became the first female head of government of Bangladesh. In addition,
Abdur Rahman Biswas won the
1991 Bangladeshi presidential election. The
second Khaleda ministry was the country's government during the 6th legislative sessions of the
Jatiya Sangsad following the
February 1996 general election, boycotted by most of the opposition parties. The cabinet took oath in a hurry on 19 March 1996 amid
hartals and protests from the opposition parties for a new election under a
Caretaker Government. The cabinet passed the
Constitutional Amendment Bill in the sitting parliament to establish a neutral
Caretaker Government system in Bangladesh. The second Khaleda ministry was short-lived; lasting only 12 days, the ministry transferred power to the
caretaker government led by
Muhammad Habibur Rahman on 30 March 1996, and an election was scheduled for
June 1996.
In opposition (1996–2001) Second Khaleda premiership (2001–2006) The
third Khaleda ministry was the ministry that served during the 8th legislative session of the
Jatiya Sangsad following the
2001 general election. The cabinet took office on 10 October 2001 and left office on 29 October 2006. The BNP led by Zia returned to power, defeating Hasina's Awami League. In addition,
A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury won the
2001 Bangladeshi presidential election.
2006–2008 political crisis The military-backed government promised to tackle the longstanding problems of corruption, filing charges against more than 160 politicians, civil servants and businessmen in 2007. Among those charged were Khaleda Zia and her two sons, as well as Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League. After her release later that year, Zia was restored to her position as party leader.
2008 general election In the general election, the 4-party alliance led by the BNP won 33 seats out of 299 constituencies, with the BNP alone securing just 30. Sheikh Hasina then succeeded Zia as prime minister, ending the BNP's tenure in government.
In opposition (2009–2026) After sanctions by the Election Commission, the party held country-wide events for local leaders to play an active role in the national party. The BNP National Council empowered re-elected party chairperson Khaleda Zia to pick other members for the National Executive Committee and Standing Committee. It elected her eldest son, Tarique Rahman, to the powerful post as Senior vice-chairman, in a "move apparently designed to smooth his path to the party helm." In 2016, the BNP announced its new National Standing Committee, in which Khaleda retained her position as chairperson. New members were recruited while some older members were removed, and various new strategies for party operation were formulated. In May 2017, Khaleda revealed BNP's Vision 2030 to gain public support for the next general elections. However the ruling Awami League government denounced Vision 2030 as an act of plagiarism of Awami League's Vision 2021 which they used in the ninth general election and claimed most of the targets in the Visions were fulfilled by Awami League, thus declaring BNP's Vision 2030 as unoriginal. BNP also announced it will hold processions to hold the next general elections under a neutral government. This renewed tensions between the BNP and the Awami League.
2018 general election On 8 February 2018, Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman, as per the court verdict, were jailed for 5 and 10 years respectively due to involvement in the
Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. While Tarique was in exile, Khaleda was imprisoned in the old Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road. In protest, the BNP held nationwide demonstrations, which were foiled by a well-prepared police force across the nation. A large number of BNP activists were arrested during clashes with the police during the protests against Khaleda's imprisonment. Due to the verdict, Zia was declared ineligible to run for any constituency. On 9 October 2018, the government of Bangladesh formed a nine-member group to detect and monitor rumours on social media sites such as Facebook.
Tarana Halim said the group's goal was to ensure that "people [have] the right information only." Two months later, approximately 30 accounts linked to the spreading of
fictitious news reports regarding the BNP were blocked from Facebook and Twitter. After the jailing of chairperson
Begum Khaleda Zia, BNP expedited the process of forging a national unity with prominent leaders of the country. In October 2018, the party formally announced its joining of
Jatiya Oikya Front with Dr.
Kamal Hossain at its forefront. There was controversy in the run-up to the 2018 elections surrounding the nomination of banned Jamaat candidates under the BNP banner. In 2013, Jamaat-e-Islami was banned from registering and therefore contesting in elections by the
High Court, citing their charter in violation of the constitution. However, 25 Jamaat candidates ran in the election, with 22 nominations for BNP and 3 running as independents. An investigation was launched but on 23 December, the
Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said they had examined the related law and "there is no scope for rejecting the Jamaat leaders' candidacy at this moment." The media, however, had reported at the end of November that this was happening. Not being able to contest herself, Zia's BNP won 7 seats and nearly 12 percent of the vote at the
2018 general election.
2024 and 2026 general elections On 26 March 2020, Zia's prison sentence was suspended for six months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and she was granted a conditional release because she received medical treatment within the country and did not travel abroad. The six-month suspension has been granted for a total of six consecutive times, with the most recent one being on 18 September 2022. Since Zia's release, the BNP campaigned for her unconditional release and for the ruling government to allow her to travel abroad. In preparation for the
2024 general election, the BNP launched a series of rallies which advocated for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the return of the
caretaker government. During a rally held in Dhaka on 10 December 2022, seven BNP lawmakers announced their resignation from the current government in demands of the dissolution of parliament, the formation of a new election commission, and allowing the election to be held under a neutral caretaker government. The party ended up boycotting the election, as they assumed that the election commission under the incumbent government were unable to organise a free and fair election. The BNP actively supported the
2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement. Later, it joined the
Non-cooperation movement against the
government. After the
July Uprising, BNP chairperson
Khaleda Zia was set free. Following her release, she offered a speech to the nation after six years of imprisonment. After interim government was formed, the party demanded for democratic elections. Her son,
Tarique Rahman, returned to Bangladesh on 25 December 2025, five days before she died following a prolonged illness. On 9 January 2026, Rahman succeeded his mother as chairperson of the BNP. The BNP won a
landslide victory in the
2026 general election, with Rahman being elected to the
Jatiya Sangsad for his first term and has been sworn as the prime minister since February 17, 2026.
Rahman premiership (2026–present) ==Ideology ==