Sri Lanka, Feb. 14 -- Just over two years ago, when Sheikh Hasina won an election widely condemned as rigged in her favour, it was hard to imagine her 15-year grip on power being broken so suddenly, or that a rival party that had been virtually written off would make such a resounding comeback.

But in the cycle of Bangladeshi politics, this is one more flip-flop between Hasina's Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which have alternated holding power for decades.

Except this is the first time that new BNP leader Tarique Rahman is formally leading the party - and the first time he's contested an election.

His mother Khaleda Zia, who died of an illness late last year, was the party's head for four decades. She took o...