Trinamool BNP gets Shamsher as chair, Taimur secretary

Shamsher Mubin Chowdhury and Taimur Alam Khondokar, two former leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have been elected respectively as the chairman and secretary general of Trinamool BNP.

Besides, Antara Selima Huda, daughter of the Trinamool BNP's founder chief and former BNP leader Nazmul Huda, has been elected as its executive chairperson.

The party held its very first council in the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday, where a partial 27-member committee was formed.

Shamsher Mubin Chowdhury stepped down as the vice president of de facto opposition, BNP, on 28 October in 2015, while Tamur Alam Khondokar, a former advisor to BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia, was expelled in January, 2022.

Attending the council, Shamsher Mubin Chowdhury vowed to work to safeguard the people’s right, citing that his political aim did not change with the party.

He also said the Trinamool BNP is an independent political party with a unique ideology. “It is not a king’s party, rather a people’s party.”

Regarding his expulsion from the BNP, Taimur Alam Khondokar said he had waited for one and a half years after being expelled from the BNP. However, he assured that the Trinamool BNP would not emerge as a limited company and no one would be overlooked, or neglected here.

He further said the Trinamool BNP will take a decision on joining the next parliamentary election through consultation.

Antara Selima Huda expressed optimism that the Trinamool BNP, under the leadership of Shamsher and Taimur, will be a strong and vibrant political party.

Trinamool BNP founder Nazmul Huda was made a minister in the cabinet of Khaleda Zia-led government in 1991 and 2001. He snapped his connection with the BNP in 2012 and formed a new party named BNF. Later, he was expelled by BNF chief coordinator Abul Kalam Azad.

In the following move, Nazmul Huda formed two political parties – Bangladesh National Alliance (BNA) and Bangladesh Manobadhikar Party (BMP). Finally, he formed one more and it was the Trinamool BNP.

Before the 11th parliamentary polls, the Trinamool BNP applied to the election commission (EC) seeking registration as a political party, but was denied. Later, the party took the issue to the court and secured registration in February this year.

But its founder Nazmul Huda passed away within days of securing the status of a registered political party. His daughter Antara Selima Huda took over the position and became acting chairman of the party.

Trinamool BNP eventually got its elected leadership through the council on Tuesday.