Politics

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman stops bus to greet Saidpur college students

On his way from Saidpur airport to Durga Puja pavilions in Rangpur, the prime minister halted in front of Saidpur Government Science College, posed for selfies and handed out footballs and cricket bats.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 20 Oct 2026, 15:27

File photo: Prime Minister Tarique Rahman meets pupils during a visit to BIAM Laboratory School in New Eskaton, Dhaka, on 25 April 2026. Press Information Department, Government of Bangladesh

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman stopped his bus outside a government college in Saidpur on Tuesday morning to take selfies with students and give them sports equipment, as he travelled to Durga Puja pavilions in Rangpur.

The prime minister landed at Saidpur airport in Nilphamari at 9:50am on a military aircraft from Tejgaon in Dhaka and then set off by road for Rangpur. Students of Saidpur Government Science College were gathered in front of the campus as the bus passed.

Seeing them, he stopped and spent several minutes with the students, posing for photographs and handing over footballs, cricket bats and other gear, the college principal, Abul Kalam Azad, said.

Azad said the students were delighted by the unannounced visit. He said he used the moment to ask the prime minister for help with the college's facilities, including two student hostels and a hall, and that a written request was handed over.

The stop opened a day-long tour of puja venues across three divisions. After visiting the Radha Gobinda temple in Rangpur, the prime minister was due to fly to Rajshahi to tour a mandap and address a rally, then visit a pavilion at the JM Sen Hall in Chattogram before returning to Dhaka at night.

He has spent much of Durga Puja visiting temples and mandaps. At Dhakeshwari National Temple in Dhaka on Monday, he said every citizen has equal rights and that the state belongs to people of all faiths.

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File photo: a BRT station on the Dhaka-Gazipur corridor under construction. The government has decided to remove the stations and turn the corridor into a six-lane highway. Mehediabedin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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