BNP Nominates Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for 23rd Presidency of Bangladesh
Photo Collected
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is set to become the 23rd President of the country after receiving a nomination from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Given the party’s absolute majority in parliament, his election is widely considered a formality. The veteran politician has already resigned from his positions as the party’s Secretary General and member of the National Standing Committee ahead of the scheduled election on August 20, following which he is expected to move into the presidential palace, Bangabhaban.
Born on January 26, 1948, in the Kalibari area of Thakurgaon, Mirza Fakhrul began his political journey during his student years at the University of Dhaka. He was an active member of the East Pakistan Students Union and served as the general secretary of its S.M. Hall unit. During the 1969 mass uprising, he served as the president of the student union’s Dhaka University branch, an involvement that led to his imprisonment. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Dhaka.
His professional career began in 1972 as a lecturer at Dhaka College under the BCS (Education) cadre. He later served as the private secretary to then-Deputy Prime Minister S.A. Bari during the tenure of President Ziaur Rahman. Following Bari’s resignation in 1982, he returned to teaching at Thakurgaon Government College while also serving as deputy director of the Inspection and Audit Department and working with the UNESCO National Commission.
Mirza Fakhrul’s formal entry into electoral politics began in 1988 when he was elected chairman of the Thakurgaon municipality as an independent candidate. Following the anti-autocracy movement of 1990, he joined the BNP. He became the president of the Thakurgaon district unit of the party in 1992. In the 2001 general election, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Thakurgaon-1 constituency, subsequently serving as State Minister for Agriculture and later as State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism.
In 2009, he was named senior joint secretary general of the BNP during the party’s fifth national council. Following the death of Secretary General Khondaker Delowar Hossain in 2011, party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia appointed him acting secretary general. He was formally elected secretary general at the party’s sixth national council in 2016. Following the BNP’s victory in the 13th national parliamentary election in 2026, he served as Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.
The nomination has been met with enthusiasm among his associates in Thakurgaon. Professor Mantosh Kumar De, a veteran educationist and long-time friend, expressed pride in his colleague’s potential presidency while noting local concerns regarding the continuity of development projects initiated under his leadership. Similarly, Thakurgaon district BNP general secretary Paigam Ali praised Mirza Fakhrul’s long-standing contribution to national politics, expressing confidence that he would serve the nation with wisdom and experience.
Mirza Fakhrul comes from a family with a deep history in public service. His father, Mirza Ruhul Amin, was a long-time member of parliament and a former government minister. His uncle, Mirza Golam Hafiz, served as a minister and Speaker of the second national parliament, while another uncle, Wing Commander S.R. Mirza, held leadership roles within the Mujibnagar government during the 1971 Liberation War. Mirza Fakhrul is married to Rahat Ara Begum, an insurance professional, and they have two daughters, both of whom are educators.
0%
0%
0%
0%
More News from Local
