Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and the late President General Zia Ur Rahman, on Wednesday gave his sea of supporters in Dhaka a slogan to remember and use in elections he insisted the interim government must hold in December.
"Not Dilli, not Pindi, nor any other country. Bangladesh first," Rahman thundered to a roar of approval from lakhs of people who turned the street outside the BNP's head office at Naya Paltan in Dhaka into a carpet of yellow BNP pennants and green and red Bangladesh flags.
The Delhi dig was directed at the Awami League party, which BNP has consistently claimed is in India's pocket.
The reference to Pindi is a first and directed at the growing warmth between the interim government in Dhaka and the Pakistan military headquartered in Rawalpindi. Within weeks of being installed, Muhammed Yunus' government had opened its ports to ships from Pakistan and extended several other facilities to a country that was shunned during the Awami League's regime.
Rahman's address, delivered from London over large screens dotting the rally venue, began as an election manifesto in which he spelt out several development projects the BNP would implement when in government. But that was followed by tough words for the interim government, which he accused of exceeding its mandate and delaying the polls.
"In the past, caretaker governments have held free and fair elections within three months (of a government's resignation). But today, after 10 months, the interim government is not declaring dates and people are beginning to suspect the government's motive," he said, adding, "The interim government must hold elections by December."
Last week, the Army chief had reportedly made the same demand – polls by December – and though the comments were officially denied later, they triggered a near crisis.
Yunus threatened to resign if pushed on the issue. Political parties rushed to placate him and he relented. But he did not budge from the six-month window - between December 2025 and June 2026 - he has given himself for holding the elections.
There is a rider. A commission has been set up to review and fix flaws in the electoral process. Yunus is known to insist that the reforms must be completed and implemented before elections are held. The BNP, which is pressing for December polls, wants elections first and for the remaining reforms to be implemented by an elected government.
This debate pushed Bangladesh on edge last week. It is still teetering there.