Tarique Rahman visits BNP office for first time as PM

BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman visited the party’s central office in Nayapaltan, Dhaka, for the first time since taking oath as prime minister, holding discussions on overhauling the party.
He arrived at the central office around 7:20pm, where party leaders and activists, along with members of the associate organisations including Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal, welcomed him with slogans.
BNP Secretary General and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed were present at the office prior to Tarique Rahman’s arrival.
After reaching the party office, Tarique Rahman waved to the crowd gathered outside from his car door before entering the building.
The visit comes at a time when the party’s reorganisation from central to grassroots levels is being widely discussed.
Tarique Rahman sat in a meeting with the party’s central leaders and exchanged views on various organisational issues, said the Prime Minister’s Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Ruman.

He added that the prime minister enquired about the condition of different units, front and associate organisations, and issued directives aimed at overhauling the party to strengthen it.
The tenure of different units of the BNP, as well as its front and associate organisations including Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal and Sramik Dal, has already expired, while the central council session of the party has long been suspended.

A large number of party leaders and activists had gathered in the Nayapaltan area since the afternoon to mark his arrival.
Tight security measures were put in place at the party’s central office ahead of the visit. Security was strengthened in and around Nayapaltan from Saturday morning, with additional CCTV cameras installed and barricades set up around the main entrance to ensure the Prime Minister’s safety.
Law enforcement personnel were deployed from early morning, and traffic on the VIP road in Nayapaltan was restricted ahead of the visit.
Earlier, speaking at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers in Dhaka on the occasion of Independence Day on Friday afternoon, he had told party leaders and activists that he would visit the central office in Nayapaltan on Saturday.
Tarique Rahman had previously visited the Nayapaltan office once after returning to the country from London.