BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman arrived in Sylhet on Wednesday evening to formally kick off his election campaign, offering prayers at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (R) shortly after his arrival.
Tarique reached Sylhet’s MAG Osmani International Airport at around 8pm on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Dhaka, BNP Media Cell member Shairul Kabir Khan told reporters.
He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
After arriving in the city, the BNP chairperson went straight to the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (R), where he performed ziarat and offered nawafil prayers at around 9:05pm. He is also scheduled to visit the shrine of Hazrat Shah Paran (R) later the same night.
Earlier, Shairul Kabir Khan said Tarique Rahman left his Gulshan residence for Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 6:38pm.
Leaders of the party’s Sylhet district and metropolitan units, including district BNP President Abdul Qaiyum Chowdhury and metropolitan unit Acting President Rezaul Hasan Qayes, received him at the airport.
Following the shrine visits, Tarique Rahman is set to travel by road to Birampur village in Silam Union under South Surma upazila, where he will visit the residence of his late father-in-law, Mahbub Ali Khan.
After spending some time there, he will return to Sylhet city and stay overnight at a hotel.
Speaking to reporters, district BNP President Abdul Qaiyum Chowdhury said Tarique Rahman last visited his father-in-law’s home in 2004, after inaugurating a poverty alleviation programme in Silam Union.
“After 21 years, he is visiting the place for the second time,” he said.
