New Delhi, Dec. 25 -- The national elections in Bangladesh near, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh on Thursday in a defining homecoming. The return of Rahman, who had been in exile for 17 years, marked one of the most consequential moments in contemporary national politics in the country.

Tarique Rahman's homecoming comes at a time of deep uncertainty, high public expectations and mounting challenges ahead of the next parliamentary election.

Rahman had left the country in September 2008, after being released from prison under conditions that barred him from engaging in political activity for three years.

Rahman, 60, who has lived in London since he fled Bangladesh in 2008 over what...