BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Thursday night returned to his Gulshan residence after visiting his mother and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia at Evercare Hospital, marking an emotional end to a historic day following his return home after 17 years.

Tarique left Evercare Hospital and reached his Gulshan house shortly after 8:30pm, party sources said.

Earlier in the evening, he went to the hospital to see Khaleda Zia after concluding his scheduled address at a reception organised in his honour at Purbachal. He reached the hospital at 5:53pm, having left the Purbachal venue around 4:30pm after stepping down from the stage.

Tarique Rahman arrived in Dhaka at 11:40am on Thursday as the Bangladesh Biman flight carrying him landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Before boarding a bus from the airport, he took off his shoes, stepped onto the soil of Bangladesh and picked up a handful of earth in a symbolic gesture.

He had departed London’s Heathrow Airport on Wednesday along with his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, and daughter Zaima Rahman. Several leaders of BNP’s London chapter accompanied him during the journey.

Tarique’s homecoming after nearly one and a half decades has drawn widespread attention, with party leaders and supporters terming it a significant moment in the country’s political landscape.