Two terms, decades of rivalry: Who was Khaleda Zia - Bangladesh’s first woman PM and BNP chief

Former Bangladesh prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia died early Tuesday at the age of 80, party officials confirmed. She had been undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.

According to her party, Zia died around 6.00 am, shortly after Fajr prayers, after remaining in critical condition for months.A dominant figure in Bangladesh’s politics for decades, Khaleda Zia was the country’s first woman prime minister and the long-time political rival of Sheikh Hasina. She had been suffering from multiple serious health complications, including heart, lung, liver and kidney ailments, diabetes and pneumonia.

Zia had been under intensive medical care since November.

Her death comes just days after her elder son and BNP’s acting chairperson Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh from London, ending 17 years of self-imposed exile as the country moves toward crucial national elections.Also Read | Bangladesh: Former PM & BNP chairman Khaleda Zia passes away at 80

Khaleda Zia was born in 1945 in Jalpaiguri and grew up in Dinajpur. She married Ziaur Rahman in 1960, who later became Bangladesh’s president after seizing power as a military chief in 1977.

Following his assassination in a military coup in 1981, Khaleda, who had never been involved in politics, entered public life and took charge of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 1984.

She emerged as a key leader in the mass movement against military ruler HM Ershad, earning a reputation as an uncompromising figure in the struggle to restore democracy. In 1991, she led the BNP to victory and became Bangladesh’s first elected woman prime minister, introducing the parliamentary system of government and later playing a role in establishing the caretaker government system for elections.Khaleda Zia served as prime minister two times from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. Her political career was defined by a fierce rivalry with Sheikh Hasina, a contestant who shaped Bangladesh’s politics for more than three decades.In later years, Zia faced multiple corruption cases, which her party described as politically motivated. She was jailed in 2018 and remained largely confined due to illness after being granted temporary release in 2020.

In January 2025, the Supreme Court acquitted her in the final corruption case against her, effectively clearing her name.

Following Hasina’s ouster in a mass uprising in 2024, an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus allowed Zia to travel abroad for advanced treatment. She returned from London in May but remained seriously ill and withdrew from active politics, though she continued as BNP chairperson until her death.Khaleda Zia is survived by her elder son Tarique Rahman, while her younger son, Arafat Rahman Koko died in 2015. Despite years of illness and imprisonment, she remains one of the most influential and polarising figures in Bangladesh’s political history.