Bangladesh, Sept. 2 -- Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) marked its 48th founding anniversary on Tuesday with wreath-laying, tributes and a renewed pledge from Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to deepen democracy, even as critics inside and outside the party pressed an uncomfortable question: is the BNP still the party its founder, late president Ziaur Rahman, envisioned, or has power begun to erode it from within?

The anniversary comes less than a year after the party returned to office through the 13th parliamentary election held in February, capping what party leaders describe as a 17-year struggle against the government of Sheikh Hasina, which was ousted in August 2024.

Hundreds of BNP activists were killed and, by the party's own ac...