Delwar at the helm of BNP
The newly-picked secretary general of the BNP, Khondaker Delwar Hossain, joined General Zia's political platform in 1978 from the National Awami Party (NAP).
A man of illustrious political past, he is a five-time member of parliament from Manikganj's Ghior-Doulatpur constituency, being the chief whip in the seventh and eighth parliament.
He has been a standing committee member of the BNP since 1985.
Born in Manikganj in 1933, Delwar Hossain graduated from the Dhaka University with a law degree in 1955. He started his political career through the Language Movement in 1952, contesting the 1954 elections from the Jukto Front. He joined
the NAP in 1957.
Controversy, however, trailed him for his reported abuse of office for personal financial benefits after his party came to power in 2001.
Delwar reportedly carted away a large amount of foodstuff for his family from the parliament cafeteria, which was paid for by the parliament secretariat.
The Daily Prothom Alo published a report earlier this year that the former chief whip also spent a half of Tk 27 lakh in entertainment allowance on himself, while the money was allocated for all the whips for fiscal year 2004-05.
Last year he sued the editor, publisher and two other newsmen of the daily for running 'defamatory' news against him. The court, however, cleared them of the charges.
Dozens of cases were filed against his two sons -- Akhtar Hamid Paban and Abdul Hamid Dablu -- for criminal acts ranging from carhijacking, extortion and murder attempts during the alliance government.
Paban was arrested on June 7 last year with a stolen Toyota car. He was arrested on February 27 in 2005 for attempting to murder a phone-fax businessman he tried to extort. Eight cases are still pending against him on various charges.
Dablu, on the other hand, is facing five to six cases on different charges, including extortion.
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