(MENAFN- Live Mint) Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia's health condition is“extremely critical,” PTI reported, citing a close aide. The 80-year-old leader was hospitalised on Sunday night after developing a chest infection that impacted both her heart and lungs.

“Last night, the doctors said that her physical condition is extremely critical,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.

Zia, the widow of assassinated Bangladesh president Zia-ur Rahman, has long been battling several health problems, including liver and kidney ailments, diabetes, arthritis, and eye-related conditions.

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Following Friday prayers, the BNP held special prayer sessions seeking the swift recovery of their party chief.

“We have sought prayers from the people across the country after Jummah prayers for the recovery of the 'Mother of Democracy', Begum Khaleda Zia. We pray that she may recover and return to the people to get the opportunity to work for the country,” Fakhrul added, as reported by PTI.

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Her only son and BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, has been living in London since 2008. Her other son, Arafat Rahman, died of a cardiac arrest in 2025.

BNP has emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh's changed political landscape after a student-led violent street protest toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5, 2024.

Earlier in the year, Zia returned to the country from London on May 6 after spending four months for advanced medical treatment.

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Zia, who led Bangladesh three times, was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Hasina's government, which also blocked her from travelling abroad for medical treatment. She was released last year, shortly after Hasina was forced from power.

Earlier in November, BNP announced that Zia would take part in the elections expected in February.

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Khaleda Zia replaced the presidential system with a parliamentary form of government, shifting power to the prime minister. She also removed restrictions on foreign investment and made primary education compulsory and free.

After losing to Hasina in the 1996 election, Khaleda regained power in the 2001 election. Her second term, however, was overshadowed by the rise of Islamist militants and allegations of corruption.

For decades, Bangladeshi politics has been shaped by the fierce rivalry between Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina - a long-running feud often called the“Battle of the Begums,” an honorific referring to influential women in South Asia.

Battle of Begums

The enmity dates back to 1975, when Hasina's father, independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of her family, was assassinated in a military coup.

Just three months later, Zia's husband, Ziaur Rahman - then the deputy army chief - effectively took charge of the country and became president in 1977. He, too, was assassinated in 1981.

Khaleda Zia, at the time a 35-year-old mother of two, subsequently took over the leadership of the BNP.

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Initially underestimated, she emerged as a powerful political force, mobilising opposition against military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad and eventually joining hands with Hasina to oust him in 1990.

Over the next 15 years, the two leaders alternated in power, defining an era of deeply polarised politics in Bangladesh, according to a report by AFP.

(With inputs from agencies)

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