BNP has to perform

It got cloudy. It really got dark. It began to rain. “You know what? This is the right weather to have smoked rice with fried fish,’’ reacted my grand mum to the weather. She was a great cook and a greater host.

In hours, we were seen gorging on the combination as the rain turned the dusty greenery around vibrant. The fish was hilsa, known as Ilish in Bengali.

What should and will definitely work in Prime Minister Rahman’s favour is the overwhelming mandate

And it’s then when the seeds of my deep love for the fish were sowed. It has been decades, but my love has only deepened with time. 

Lovingly hooked by the fish I naturally showed interest in its land of origin, Bangladesh. Across the land flows the Padma River and in the river the world finds hilsa. It’s a national pride that’ll never drown.

My interest spread to its growth as a cricketing outfit of reckoning. And my profession drew me to the politics of the 175-million country, a zesty child of a game-changing revolution. But like most revolutions it began in the interest of people but ended in the interest of power. And the latter meant political instability for some years.

Well, on February 12, 2026, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, won the general election.

Rahman’s father and mother have led the nation on different occasions. Though a healthy political pedigree is always inspirational, it isn’t a guarantee for sound political morality.

That’s because fair and constructive governance calls for selflessness, a call most politicians find very difficult to answer in the long run. Who do, prevail. Who don’t, perish.    

That was a short digression and certainly not meant to suggest, even for the sake of argument, that the glitter of authority could blur the 60-year-old leader’s ethical vision.

What should and will definitely work in Prime Minister Rahman’s favour is the overwhelming mandate. It confirms that he is there because the majority of the Bangladeshi voters want him. He is not a lusty intruder, but an elected hope.

The BNP made a sober start by officially refraining from organising large celebrations. But respectable gestures have to be matched by concrete actions. Its domain of concern is huge and will need unrelenting commitment.

From reigniting cold ovens in low-income group homes to giving farmers fair prices for their produce to creating jobs to fully reviving the garment sector to restoring investor confidence and to ensuring political stability, need the triumphant party’s immediate attention.

The party must remember that its pledges brought home votes and only their fulfilment will win it the tenure it’s so desperately looking forward to.

And that won’t happen automatically. But it shouldn’t be impossible because the common voter doesn’t want much. Hear out one of them, “If the factories run regularly and we get our wages on time, that’s what matters to us. I just want ... stability so more orders come to Bangladesh and we can survive,” Josna Begum, a 28-year-old garment worker, told a news agency.

It is true that a full glass, a full plate and a well-lit home don’t mean much for the haves, but they mean a whole new world for the have nots.   

If the BNP spills this chance history will not forgive it and history’s punitive action will find a million supporters.