New Delhi: For the first time in over three decades, India has proposed a political appointee for an ambassadorial role in the neighbourhood, forwarding the name of Dinesh Trivedi, a BJP leader, as high commissioner to Dhaka. It is learnt that New Delhi has already sent Trivedi’s name to Dhaka for agrément. A formal announcement by the Ministry of External Affairs will follow only after Bangladesh conveys its approval.At present, India has just one political appointee among its ambassadors. Former foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra was appointed envoy to the United States after retiring from the Indian Foreign Service.Political appointments outside London and Washington have been rare. During the Modi government, former CBI chief RK Raghavan was appointed to Cyprus and former army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag to Seychelles.In the neighbourhood, the last time that a political appointment was made in Kathmandu of historian Bimal Prasad in early 1990s.Speculation about a political appointment had been building for over a month, with several names in circulation. Trivedi will succeed Pranay Verma, 1994 batch IFS officer, who has already been posted as India’s envoy in Brussels.The move comes as India seeks to repair ties with Bangladesh and has been reaching out to the BNP government of Tarique Rahman, which won the general elections held 18 months after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. Under the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, relations had deteriorated sharply.As it became clear that BNP would win the elections, India had begun courting Tarique Rahman, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended the funeral of his mother and former prime minister Khaleda Zia. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also sent a letter to Rahman inviting him to visit New Delhi.Earlier this month, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman arrived in New Delhi for a two-day visit, the first ministerial visit following the BNP’s return to power.Bangladesh raised several requests during the visit, including that India increase supplies of diesel and fertiliser, and the extradition of Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. The two sides agreed on the extradition of those accused in the killing of student leader Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, who had been arrested in West Bengal. Jaishankar stated that Indian visas for Bangladeshis, particularly medical and business visas, would be eased.Trivedi, 75, is a former Union railway minister who served in the Manmohan Singh government as a member of the Trinamool Congress. He presented the 2012 railway budget, which proposed a passenger fare increase, a move that led to his resignation following opposition from party leadership.He has also served as minister of state for health and family welfare and has been a member of both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, representing constituencies in West Bengal as well as a Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat.Trivedi resigned from the Trinamool Congress in February 2021 and joined the BJP the following month.Trivedi’s shift to the BJP was believed to be the result of a long political evolution rather than a sudden rupture with the TMC. A veteran politician once associated with V.P. Singh, Trivedi was brought into the TMC by Mamata Banerjee and soon emerged as one of its most important national figures. After the party was founded on January 1, 1998, he became its first general secretary and played a key role in taking the TMC into the BJP-led NDA, acting as a crucial intermediary with the Vajpayee government in New Delhi.As the TMC’s principal liaison with the BJP leadership at the Centre, Trivedi built a reputation for political moderation, parliamentary decorum and an emphasis on national interest. This style helped distinguish him within Bengal politics and later allowed BJP leaders to portray him as someone whose outlook was more compatible with their own political culture than with the TMC’s later course.But his ties with the Sangh Parivar ran deep, with Trivedi maintaining cordial relations for years with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior BJP leaders such as Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. His political positioning also aligned with the BJP’s growing emphasis on border politics, particularly the issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh, which he had raised in Parliament way back in 2011, well before formally joining the party in 2021.In 2015, shortly after Mamata Banerjee elevated him as party vice-president amid fears of Mukul Roy’s rebellion, Trivedi was seen at the wedding reception of Amit Shah’s son, where he was seen interacting quite a bit with top BJP leaders including Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Ashok Singhal, Rahul Sinha and Siddharth Nath Singh. His presence drew attention in political circles, though TMC leaders publicly downplayed it as a personal engagement.With inputs by Aparna Bhattacharya.