Elections are due in Bangladesh in January 2014. The country has voted Hasina and Zia alternatively to power. India would be keen to maintain friendly and close ties with whichever side wins, but past memories of the BNP in power are not pleasant.
During the previous tenure of the BNP-Jamaat government, Bangladesh had become a free hunting ground for fundamentalists of various hues who had the direct support and funding of the ISI. Some anti-India militant groups also set up their base in Bangladesh, to India's worry.
India has tried to mend fences with Zia. During her visit to India last year, the BNP chief had held meetings with both President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
But during Mukherjee's Dhaka visit this March, Zia, in a snub, declined to meet the Indian president. Her party in fact, along with the Jamaat, held dawn to dusk strikes to coincide with Mukherjee's visit.
India is watching the situation as the BNP and its 18-party alliance have decided on fresh street agitations after ending Tuesday their three-day nationwide shutdown that saw much violence.
