‘BNP went all out to defeat me’

National Desk :

Barrister Rumin Farhana, the newly elected member of parliament from Brahmanbaria-2 (covering Sarail, Ashuganj, and part of Bijoynagar), said that she did not only have to compete with her constituency rivals but faced the full force of the BNP.

“They treated the election as if an individual’s image could never surpass the party’s. I became Rumin, only BNP used to do this; they said Rumin must be defeated,” she told reporters on Friday afternoon at her home in Shahbazpur, Sarail, after being declared the winner.

In the 13th National Parliament election held on Thursday, Rumin Farhana contested as an independent candidate under the “Duck” symbol and was unofficially declared the winner with 118,547 votes. Her nearest competitor, BNP-backed Maulana Junayed Al Habib, running under the “Date Palm” symbol, received 80,434 votes. Rumin had been expelled from the BNP for defying the party and running as an independent.

Rumin Farhana added, “My preparation for this election did not start just 22 or 25 days ago. Since August 5, I have spent at least four to five days a week in the constituency. This preparation goes far back and is the effort of my supporters. This victory is not mine; it belongs to my voters.

Even those who did not vote for me, who made obscene and ugly comments about me-the BNP leaders-I am grateful to them as well. Without their actions, perhaps I would not have won by such a margin. The people have responded through the ballot to all the injustices and ingratitude.”

Criticizing BNP’s functioning, she further said, “BNP’s movements and struggles were for voting rights and fair elections; I participated in them too. But over 18 months of party activity, we have seen how money is extracted from people, how oppression occurs, how land and businesses are seized, and how extortion is carried out.

I cannot be part of that. My politics is mine; the party’s politics is the party’s. I hope they do not repeat the mistakes they made from 2001 to 2026.

Over the past one and a half years, they have harassed people in various ways; I hope such repetition does not occur. That is my only expectation.”