Dhaka: A drone with blinking red and white lights zigzagged above the heads of thousands crammed into a five-star hotel ballroom in Dhaka on Saturday (February 14) afternoon. Below, Tarique Rahman sat flanked by the old guard of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), thirty-five minutes late but finally ready to speak.It was his first press conference since the BNP’s landslide victory two days earlier, which delivered a commanding two-thirds majority in parliament and underscored the emergence of Jamaat-e-Islami as a significant electoral force. The 60-year-old party scion, who returned two months ago after 17 years abroad and led the election campaign, showed little appetite for triumphalism.The setting was carefully managed. Outside the hotel on a busy Dhaka square, traffic had picked up on the final day of the extended election holiday. Inside, young couples in saris and panjabis wandered through Valentine’s Day decorations of red roses, largely detached from the political theatre unfolding in the building.BNP leaders greeted one another with visible relief, many returning to the capital after hard-fought campaigns. “My WhatsApp is just filled with forwards of what they claim are cabinet lists. All the lists are different,” one BNP leader said, laughing.Rahman is expected to inaugurate his five year term as prime minister with a oath-taking ceremony on Tuesday. So far, there are no plans to invite regional leaders. “It is not in our tradition to have foreign guests,” said a BNP standing committee member.Journalists, fresh from marathon election coverage, jostled for seats once the doors opened. Party supporters far outnumbered the press, prompting organisers to appeal from the dais for chairs to be surrendered. “It looks like they are distributing free lottery numbers,” another BNP leader quipped as the crowd pressed inside.When Rahman walked in wearing a crisp white shirt, the image was striking. The man whose father and mother had both been heads of state and government sat surrounded by the veterans who had kept the party alive through years of political wilderness under Sheikh Hasina. The young technocrats who had followed him back from exile waited in the wings of the makeshift stage.Rahman delivered prepared remarks first in English and then in Bengali. The structure was identical, but the phrasing shifted. In English, he referred to an “authoritarian regime” that had left behind a fragile economy. In Bengali, he used the sharper term fashivad to describe the previous dispensation.His most pointed warning concerned sovereignty. “To ensure that no evil force can re-establish autocracy in the country, and to ensure that the nation is not turned into a subservient state, we must remain united,” he said. In Bengali, he used the phrase tabedaar rastra, meaning a dependent or vassal state.He paid tribute to those killed in the 2024 mass uprising and thanked the interim government for conducting what he called a free and fair election.The first question came from an Indian journalist, who asked how Bangladesh’s foreign policy would be shaped under his leadership.“I think we have cleared ourselves regarding the foreign policy, which is the interest of Bangladesh and the interest of Bangladeshi people comes first,” Rahman said. “By protecting the interest of Bangladesh and the people of Bangladesh we will decide our foreign policy.” Thunderous applause followed from party supporters.Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have been strained since the interim government took office in August 2024. In recent months, however, India has engaged directly with Rahman. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended the funeral of Khaleda Zia, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first world leader to congratulate Rahman and speak to him by phone after the results.Rahman then handed the microphone to BNP standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, who said relations would rest on “mutual respect, mutual interest, non-interference and strategic autonomy for Bangladesh.”The Indian journalist also asked whether the BNP would review verdicts issued by the International Crimes Tribunal, originally set up to prosecute atrocities from the 1971 Liberation War and later used to try political opponents. Last November, 78-year-old Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by the tribunal for crimes against humanity over her crackdown on student-led protests.“This is the matter for judiciary. Of course, we like to leave the judiciary separate from executive function and legislative function,” Chowdhury replied.A well-known Bangladeshi YouTuber then joked, “Abhoy dile boli – if you give me assurance, I will speak. Did you have to do any vote engineering to get the 200-plus seats?” The phrase implies speaking candidly if granted protection.“Vote engineering” had been widely used during the campaign, echoing allegations from previous flawed elections. Opposition parties such as Jamaat and NCP had levelled similar accusations at the BNP.Rahman did not smile. “To convince our people is our engineering. Our engineering is to convincing the public to support us,” he replied.Questions about Sheikh Hasina followed in quick succession. At least three reporters raised the issue of the Awami League leader who fled to India on August 5, 2024 after the student-led uprising. Rahman did not mention her name.When asked about balancing relations with India, Pakistan and China while continuing corruption cases against Hasina and, by extension, former UK minister Tulip Siddiq, both Rahman and Chowdhury said the matter had already been addressed.Later, a Pakistani journalist asked directly whether the BNP would demand Hasina’s handover from India. Rahman’s reply was brief. “That depends on the legal process, of course.”The interim government has made multiple formal extradition requests to India following Hasina’s death sentence in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal. India has acknowledged receiving the requests but has shown no willingness to comply.Rahman’s reply marked a noticeably softer tone compared with his pre-election interview with Reuters, when he said, “A judgment has been passed, so she must be brought to justice.”His clipped response made clear that he did not want his first press conference to be overshadowed by headlines about Hasina.A Western business correspondent asked how he would revive growth amid low private investment and persistent inflation. Rahman offered a one-line answer: “To bring more businesses and create more jobs.”He listed other challenges, including law and order and institutional reform. “The last regime… they have politicised almost all the institutions in the country. So we have to ensure good governance in the country,” he said.Asked whether the government would listen to the youth who led the 2024 movement, Rahman broadened the response. “It’s not only… definitely we’ll listen to the youth, but there are other people in this society, so we need to address everyone,” he said, noting that the BNP manifesto addressed youth, elderly people, disabled people and women.He also called on supporters to exercise restraint. “Even after achieving a landslide victory, I instructed BNP and allied party leaders and activists not to hold victory processions. We have celebrated our victory by offering thanks to Almighty Allah,” he said.Warning against reprisals, he added, “During the election, misunderstandings or discord may have arisen in some places. I urge everyone to ensure that such disputes do not turn into revenge or retaliation.”He also extended “sincere congratulations” to the 51 political parties who took part in the election. One party, the erstwhile ruling party Awami League was not on the ballot as there was a ban on its political activities.The final question, shouted over the din, concerned reconciliation with Awami League supporters. “By ensuring rule of law.”