Khaleda Zia joined politics after the assassination of BNP founder and former President Ziaur Rahman. Within two and a half years of joining politics, she was elected as the BNP Chairperson. She completed 41 years of that responsibility last May. During this long period, BNP has come to power in Bangladesh three times under the leadership of Khaleda Zia.

Khaleda Zia took up the primary membership of BNP on January 3, 1982. In March 1983, she became the party's senior vice chairman. Then, on January 12, 1984, Khaleda Zia was nominated as the acting chairperson of BNP. On May 10 of the same year, she was elected as the chairperson of BNP unopposed.

Since then, Khaleda Zia has served as the BNP Chairperson for more than 41 years. During this time, she became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh by winning the fifth, sixth and eighth parliamentary elections in 1991, 1996 and 2001 respectively. Khaleda Zia has never personally lost an election.