The outcome of Bangladesh's latest general elections has not only reshaped Dhaka's domestic political landscape but also triggered a recalibration of regional geopolitics in South Asia. The return of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) under the leadership of Tarique Rahman marks the end of a prolonged and controversial political chapter dominated by Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League.

For over a decade, Bangladesh's politics revolved around Hasina's strong-handed governance, economic growth narrative and an iron-fisted approach toward dissent. However, allegations of electoral engineering, shrinking democratic space and an increasingly polarised society eventually caught up with her political project. The BNP's resurgence reflects not merely a transfer of power but a deeper undercurrent of political fatigue and nationalist reassertion among segments of Bangladeshi society. The immediate regional response was telling. Both Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif were among the first........

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