Former BNP leaders at the helm of Trinamool BNP

Former BNP leaders Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury and Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker have been elected as the chairperson and secretary-general respectively of the Trinamool Bangladesh National Party (BNP).

Soon after joining the party, they became the top leaders of the party which got registration from the Election Commission on February 16.

After being elected, the diplomat turned politician said his party would extend support to the government to protect the country's democracy.

He also said he had changed his party affiliation but not his dedication to serving the people.

Shamsher resigned from BNP in 2015 and then joined Bikalpadhara Bangladesh before the 2018 election. Bikalpadhara joined the last parliamentary election as an electoral alliance of Awami League. Shamsher wanted to contest from the Sylhet-6 constituency but withdrew himself just before the election.

In response to a question about whether his current party resembled the "king's party", he explained that it was established with the aim to depoliticise the country.

Taimur Alam Khandaker. File photo

"We are not the king's party. We are a pro-people party," he said.

Barrister Nazmul Huda founded the Trinamool BNP. He was a minister in both 1991 and 2001 in Khaleda Zia's government. He later cut ties with the BNP and joined the BNF, but the party later expelled him.

Later, he founded the Trinamool BNP.

Before the 11th parliamentary election, the Trinamool BNP applied for registration with the EC, but the commission did not register them. They later moved to court, and the EC registered the Trinamool BNP on the orders of the High Court.

A few days after the party was registered, Nazmul Huda died. His daughter, Antara Selima Huda, later took over as the acting chairperson of the party.

Besides, Taimur was the advisor to the BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. In 2022, he was expelled from the party for taking part in the Narayanganj City Corporation polls, violating the party decision.

Advocate Antara Selima Huda, daughter of Trinamool BNP founder Barrister Nazmul Huda, has been elected as its executive chairperson of the party.

The 27-member partial executive committee of Trinamool BNP was announced at the party's national conference and council held at Engineers Institute Auditorium in the capital's Ramna yesterday.

In the committee, KM Jahangir Mazmadar was elected as the co-chairperson, while Maj (retd) Habibur Rahman, Mokhlesur Rahman Farhadi, Dipak Kumar Palit (Chattogram), Menoyal Sarkar, and Salam Mahmud were elected as vice-chairpersons.

Furthermore, Md Akkas Ali Khan was elected as senior joint secretary general, while Advocates Rezaul Karim and Masudur Rahman, Foyez Chowdhury, Talukdar Zahirul Haque (Barishal) and Roksana Amin Surma were elected as joint secretaries-general of the party.

When a journalist asked about his decision to join the Trinamool BNP, he explained that he was attracted to the term "Trinamool."

"I joined this party to work with grassroots people. Today, grassroots people are deprived of their rights. I will work for their well-being and to establish their equal rights in the country," he said.

When asked whether they would form any alliances, he responded that they would collaborate with those who are committed to achieving a free, fair, and peaceful election to realise their objectives.

Asked whether his previous party, BNP, was not grassroots-friendly, he said he did not want to criticise any specific political party and wanted to work with the current party for the betterment of people.

Meanwhile, at the council, many teens were seen wearing badges of party councillors.