Sheikh Hasina's lifelong political rival Khaleda Zia returns to Dhaka

Thousands of BNP workers lined up on the streets of Dhaka, close to Zia's Gulshan residence in Dhaka, to welcome the politician.

After she arrived in Dhaka in a special aircraft, Zia was received at the airport by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other members of the party's standing committee.

Supporters waved party flags and chanted slogans as the vehicle, with Khaleda seated in the front and her daughters-in-law — Zubaida Rahman and Syeda Sharmila Rahman — in the back, made its way through a packed airport road, reported The Daily Star.

79-year-old Zia, who had served as PM twice in the history of the country that was formed in 1971, was jailed in 2018 for corruption during the tenure of Hasina.

She was released from prison in January this year after the Supreme Court acquitted her.

She arrived in Bangladesh at a time when the interim government is ruling the country following the toppling of Hasina's regime on August 5, 2024.