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Published : 03 Nov 2025, 09:08 PM
The BNP is set to nominate women candidates in 5 percent of the 300 constituencies for the upcoming general election, in line with the recommendations of the July Charter.
On Monday, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced candidates for 237 constituencies, including 10 women contesting in 12 seats.
Among them, three seats, Dinajpur-3, Bogura-7 and Feni-1, have been announced for Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Under Bangladesh’s electoral law, a candidate may contest up to five constituencies. In past elections, Khaleda Zia contested five and never lost.
Her ancestral home is in Feni, while her late husband and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman hailed from Bogura.
Although she was born and educated in Dinajpur, this will be her first candidacy from the district.
Other women candidates announced include:
Sanjida Islam Tuli (Dhaka-14), coordinator of Maayer Daak, a platform formed by families of enforced disappearance victims. Tuli founded the organisation after her brother Sajedul Islam Sohel was picked up by men identifying as RAB officers in 2013.
Afroza Khanam Rita (Manikganj-3), convenor of the district BNP and chairperson of the Munno Group, one of the country’s leading industrial conglomerates.
Her father, Harunar Rashid Khan Munno, was an industrialist and minister in the BNP-led coalition government.
Tahsina Rushdir Luna (Sylhet-2), wife of missing BNP lawmaker Ilias Ali, who disappeared in 2012.
Shama Obaid (Faridpur-2), BNP’s Organising Secretary and daughter of former BNP secretary general and minister KM Obaidur Rahman.
Chowdhury Nayab Yusuf (Faridpur-3), joint general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal, daughter of former minister and BNP vice-chairman Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, and granddaughter of Muslim League leader Yusuf Ali Chowdhury.
Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto (Jhalakathi-2), widow of slain lawmaker Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who later won the 2001 election by defeating Awami League’s Amir Hossain Amu.
Farzana Sharmin Putul (Natore-1), a High Court lawyer, serving as special assistant to BNP’s Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee and a member of its media cell. Her father Fazlur Rahman was a four-time MP for the BNP.
Sabira Sultana Munni (Jashore-2), president of Jhikargacha Upazila BNP and wife of Nazmul Islam, a former BNP leader who was abducted in Dhaka in 2011 and later found dead in Gazipur.
Sansila Jabrin Priyanka (Sherpur-1), daughter of district BNP general secretary Hazrat Ali and the youngest BNP candidate in the 2018 election.
In BNP’s last election in 2018, 14 women contested under the BNP’s paddy sheaf symbol.
The July Charter recommends that political parties field women candidates in at least 5 percent of seats. BNP and 27 other political parties or alliances endorsed the proposal, while three parties issued notes of dissent.
According to the Representation of the People Order, political parties are required to ensure that 33 percent of their committees are composed of women by 2020, a target now extended to 2030.
