Putul: The only elected female MP from Northern Region

City Desk :

Barrister Farzana Sharmin Putul has been elected as the only female Member of Parliament (MP) from the 72 parliamentary constituencies across 16 districts in the northern divisions of Rajshahi and Rangpur.

In the recently concluded 13th National Parliamentary Election, she won from the Natore-1 (Lalpur-Bagatipara) constituency as a candidate of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

At 41 years of age, this lawyer is also the youngest female MP in the country. Barrister Putul is the daughter of late BNP leader and former State Minister for Youth and Sports Fazlur Rahman Patal.

After 18 years, she regained her father’s former constituency by securing party nomination and winning the election.

Fazlur Rahman Patal had served as an adviser to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and was elected MP from this constituency four consecutive times in 1991, 1996, and 2001.

He served as State Minister for Youth and Sports from 2001 to 2006. In the 2008 election, the seat slipped from BNP’s control after Patal was defeated by Jatiya Party candidate MA Talha, reports BSS.

Later, in 2014, Awami League candidate Abul Kalam Azad was elected unopposed from the seat.
Fazlur Rahman Patal passed away in 2015.

In the 2018 election, his wife received the party nomination but lost to Awami League candidate Shahidul Islam Bakul. As BNP did not participate in the 2024 election, no member of the Patal family contested that year. After a long 18 years, his daughter Barrister Putul has now reclaimed the seat.

By profession, Barrister Farzana Sharmin Putul is a Supreme Court lawyer. She currently serves as Special Assistant to the BNP Chairperson’s Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee, a member of the Human Rights Committee, and a member of the party’s Media Cell.

According to the election results, she secured 102,726 votes to win. Her nearest rival, Jamaat-nominated candidate Abul Kalam Azad, received 90,568 votes while Independent candidate Taiful Islam Tipu came third with 73,173 votes, contesting under the “Pitcher” symbol.

However, Putul’s victory was not easy. She faced various challenges in participating in the election.
There was even family rivalry over party nomination, as her elder brother, Dr. Yasir Arshad Rajan, was also vocal in seeking the nomination.

Additionally, she faced strong competition from independent candidate Taiful Islam Tipu, who had served as BNP’s central co-office secretary.

For contesting against the party’s “Sheaf of Paddy” symbol in defiance of party directives, he was expelled from all party posts, including his primary membership.

During the election campaign, Barrister Putul was reportedly subjected to cyberbullying. It was also alleged that some leaders within the party worked in favor of the rebel candidate. Among them were former Bagatipara Upazila Chairman Jahangir Hossain, municipal mayor Shariful Islam Lelin, former
Gopalpur Municipality Mayor of Lalpur and former BNP leader Munjurul Islam Bimal along with several others.
Overcoming these adversities, she ultimately succeeded in crossing the electoral hurdle.

After her victory, Barrister Farzana Sharmin Putul said, “BNP honored the people of this constituency by nominating me and, the people of this constituency, in return, have honored the party to elect me as the MP. I will not judge anyone based on who voted or who did not vote for me. I want to work with everyone.”

She further added, “Not only for this constituency or Natore district, but if given the opportunity, I’m ready to work for the country.”