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Sheikh Hasina's Delhi exile under lens as BNP returns to power in Bangladesh
With BNP set to form the government in Dhaka, the Rahman-led party is expected to act on its campaign demanding for Hasina's extradition from Delhi.
Sitting miles away from Dhaka, Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina continues to live in exile in New Delhi. As she condemns the elections held in Bangladesh as “sham” and “a farce”, Tarique Rahman and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are set to return to power 20 years after Rahman's mother Khaleda Zia's last stint as the prime minister.
In the run-up to the Bangladesh elections, the BNP and other political parties have called on India to return Sheikh Hasina to Dhaka, especially after the former PM was sentenced to death for the violent crackdown on student protestors during the July uprising.
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With the BNP set to form the government in Dhaka, the Rahman-led party is expected to act on its campaign demanding for Hasina's extradition from Delhi.
Hasina remains in India
Since her ouster, Hasina has lived in New Delhi. Apart from the occasional statements and Lodhi Garden sightings, the Awami League leader has stayed mainly off the radar.
In January 2026, Hasina shocked Dhaka with an address from Delhi where she called on citizens to rise up against the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.
“To overthrow the foreign-serving puppet regime of this national enemy at any cost, the brave sons and daughters of Bangladesh must defend and restore the Constitution written in the blood of martyrs, reclaim our independence, safeguard our sovereignty, and revive our democracy," she was quoted as saying.
What does BNP's victory mean for Hasina's exile?
With a tribunal court sentencing Sheikh Hasina to death in November 2025, political parties in Bangladesh called on India to return the Awami League leader.
In an official statement, the Bangladesh foreign ministry urged New Delhi to return Hasina, adding that providing "refuge to these individuals, who have been convicted of crimes against humanity, by any other country would be a highly unfriendly act and a disregard for justice."
Bangladeshi authorities have also formally moved to seek Hasina's return under the India–Bangladesh extradition framework. Adding to this, BNP leaders have also repeatedly called on Delhi to hand her over.
Senior BNP figures have described the matter as both a legal obligation and a sovereignty issue, saying bilateral ties need to move forward “beyond Sheikh Hasina."
BNP's demand also comes amid strained ties between India and Bangladesh, which surfaced in 2024 as Hasina fled Dhaka during the student movement. With BNP's return in the parliament, the Rahman-led party is likely to formally call for Hasina's return.
What has India said?
Following the tribunal court's verdict for Sheikh Hasina, India stated that it had noted the verdict, but added later that the decision lies in the hands of the former prime minister.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2025, external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar stated that Hasina came to Delhi "under certain circumstances."
"And, you know, I think that circumstance clearly sort of is a factor in what happens to her. But again, that is something which she has to make up her mind," Jaishankar said.
