West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly sent flowers and sweets to Bangladesh Prime Minister-elect and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman after his party’s ‘historic’ victory in the recently concluded general elections.
BNP Media Cell member Atiqur Rahman Ruman accepted the gifts during the evening at the party chairman’s political office in Gulshan, Bangladesh’s state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported.
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‘Didi’ congratulates ‘Tarique bhai’
Earlier on Friday, Mamata, often referred to as ‘Didi’, congratulated the citizens of Bangladesh as well as ‘Tarique Bhai’ and conveyed greetings to the neighbouring nation ahead of the holy month of Ramzan.
“My hearty congratulations, Shubhonandan, to all my brothers and sisters, all the people in Bangladesh. My advance Ramazan mubarak to all of them. For this great victory, my congratulations to my Tarique-Bhai, his party, and all the parties. Pray, you all be well and happy,” she wrote on X.
She also expressed hope that relations between India and Bangladesh remain cordial. This comes at a time of fragile relations between the two neighbouring countries since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted and recent violence against minority Hindus in the country.
“Wish that our relations with Bangladesh be always cordial,” she wrote.
PM Modi invited to Rahman’s swearing-in
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Rahman, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday (February 17), people familiar with the matter told HT.
However, it is unlikely that PM Modi will go to Dhaka since he is expected to hold a bilateral meeting in Mumbai with French President Emmanuel Macron on February 17, the people said on condition of anonymity.
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Tarique Rahman’s BNP sweeps Bangladesh elections
Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party secured a majority in Thursday’s election in the 350-member Parliament.
An 11-member coalition headed by the Jamaat-e-Islami party, the country’s largest Islamist party, is set to take the role of opposition.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party alliance won 212 seats, while the Jamaat-e-Islami-led bloc secured 77, according to figures released by the Electoral Commission.