Days after Sheikh Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh, a ruling BNP MP says his party and Awami League should go for "merger"

Days after Sheikh Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh from India, a ruling BNP MP called for a merger with Hasina's Awami League, saying the two parties should join forces under the Tarique Rahman-led outfit.  

BNP lawmaker from Sunamganj-2, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, said that Hasina's Awami League is an "ally" of the ruling party, reported Dhaka-based news outlet, Prohtom Alo. 

Needless to add of course, others in the BNP, and the Bangladesh government, have expressed different opinions, and rather Dhaka has sounded its displeasure with New Delhi for allowing Hasina's media-hyped event.

On Wednesday, Aug 5, -- exactly two years after her fleeing to India; Sheikh Hasina addressed a 'audio-only' press conference organised in Delhi by the Foreign Correspondent's Club of South Asia. 

The event marked the former PM's first public address in two years, after the student protests in July and August 2024 ousted the Hasina's Awami League government.  

Dr S Jaishankar with Tarique Rahman - Feb 2026 

The Tarique Rahman-led BNP government, which came to power after elections in February this year, has long demanded Hasina’s extradition from India. Dhaka has also previously urged New Delhi to refrain from providing "fugitive Hasina, a platform, who its foreign office said "could use Indian territory to make political statements or engage in activities aimed at creating instability within Bangladesh".

Ahead of the event, Information and Broadcasting Adviser to Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman, Zahed Ur Rahman, warned local media outlets against publishing or broadcasting Hasina's remarks.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has told reporters in Delhi:

"The government of India had no role to play in what was an event by a private media entity, and it does not endorse anything said at the forum, especially with regard to the duly constituted government of Bangladesh."