Dhaka: As the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) prepares to form the government after its landslide victory in the 2026 general election, the sole two Hindu lawmakers elected on BNP tickets have emphasised equal citizenship while calling for relations with India based on equality rather than dependence.Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have been severely strained over the past year and a half. India had repeatedly raised concerns about violence against Hindu communities following the political transition in Bangladesh, citing specific incidents targeting temples and Hindu-owned properties. The interim government rejected these claims, insisting the violence was not communal but targeted political opponents regardless of religion.Both men, who have won from Muslim majority constituencies, insist that their victory sends a message that the Hindu minority can trust a BNP‑led government to protect equal citizenship. The BNP also won two seats in the Chittagong Hill Tracts with Buddhist candidates.Speaking to The Wire over phone after his win was confirmed, senior BNP leader and former minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury said Hindu voters had “widely” backed him in Magura‑2, a constituency he previously represented in parliament, and that his party would not allow Bangladesh to be divided along religious lines.“The Hindu community widely voted for us. They will live with equal rights in the country,” he said, adding that BNP would “always” respect their “unconditional support”.He underlined that Hindus “are also the citizens of Bangladesh” who “have got every right to live in the country peacefully and all sorts of rights that we ensure.”Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, who won from Dhaka-3 covering Keraniganj and areas on the capital’s outskirts where he has long been active as a local organiser, placed even greater emphasis on citizenship over religious identity. He had become a state minister in 1991 Khaleda zia government.Reached at his home on Friday morning after a long night of counting, he described himself first and foremost as Bangladeshi. “I believe that I am born as Hindu, but my identity is Bangladeshi,” he told The Wire. He was elected by all voters, not only Hindus, he stressed, and pledged to establish citizen rights for all people.According to the 2022 Population and Housing Census, Hindus number just over 13.1 million people, or 7.95% of Bangladesh’s 165.16 million population.When asked whether there would be a review of alleged atrocities against Hindus under the interim government, 74-year-old Roy replied the answer lay in democracy. “Without democratic process, no one can enjoy their right,” he said. “We first need democracy and rule of law.”Chowdhury also underlined continuity with Bangladesh’s founding ideals and wartime allies.“We have respect to our freedom fighters of 1971. And they contributed a lot in the election. We never forget our independence and we never forget those who participated and those who achieved independent freedom with the help of our neighbouring country and others,” he said, in an indirect acknowledgment of India’s role in the Liberation War.But both men were careful in addressing current relations with New Delhi, emphasising neighbourly ties while asserting sovereignty. Chowdhury chose to stress cordiality rather than engage with recent controversies. “We maintain very cordial relations with India because India is our neighbouring country. We are surrounded by India,” he said.On whether Hindu voters and Awami League supporters had shifted to the BNP, Roy suggested the electoral calculus was more complex. “The Hindu people, who have the right to cast their vote, they chose the best candidate, rather than just the party and sometime they choose the alternative political party.”Roy was more explicit about the terms of engagement. “About our foreign policy, friendship with everybody and on the basis of equality,” he said. “We expect that India considers our sovereignty, for we are a nation, we have a government in Bangladesh. We have to seriously see India’s problem, but at the same time they should assert our problem. The friendship on the basis of just like an honest friendship. No dependency, but we should have a relation, friendship with every country, especially neighbours.”Chowdhury framed the question in terms of democratic pluralism. “We believe in the democratic country. Every political party and their ideology and ideas we respect in the country,” he said. “Every ideology we respect. But every political party has got the right to live here.”