11 from apparel sector bag JS seats in 13th national polls
Business Desk :
At least 11 apparel and textile owners and their family members have won seats in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections, according to unofficial results, highlighting the growing political influence of business leaders from the country’s readymade garment and textile sectors.
Most of the newly elected MPs are affiliated with major trade bodies such as the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
All of them contested the election under the banner of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
However, two prominent figures in apparel trade politics faced defeat. Mahmud Hasan Khan (Babu), president of the BGMEA and managing director of Rising Fashions, contested from Chuadanga-2 (Damurhuda-Jibannagar) but was defeated by a local Jamaat leader.
Former BGMEA president Redwan Ahmed, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who recently joined the BNP, contested from Cumilla-7 but lost to an independent candidate.
Among the winners, BNP vice-chairman and former FBCCI president Abdul Awal Mintoo was elected from Feni-3. Other business leaders elected on the BNP ticket include Md Abul Kalam, vice-president of BTMA, from Cumilla-9; Mst Afroza Khanom Rita, BTMA director, from Manikganj-3; former BTMA vice-president SM Faysal from Habiganj-4; and BTMA member Manjur Elahi from Narsingdi-3.
Zakaria Taher Sumon, a BGMEA member, secured Cumilla-8 with 169,278 votes, defeating Jamaat candidate Shafiqul Alam Helal by 124,187 votes.
In Brahmanbaria-3 (Sadar-Bijaynagar), BNP candidate Engineer Khaled Hossain Mahbub Shyamal won 209,636 votes, while his nearest rival, Mohammad Ataullah of the 11-party alliance NCP, received 62,547 votes.
In Munshiganj-1 (Srinagar-Sirajdikhan), BNP candidate Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was unofficially elected with 167,562 votes, defeating Jamaat candidate AKM Fakhruddin Raji, who received 101,568 votes. In Laxmipur-1 (Ramganj), Shahadat Hossain Selim, who recently joined the BNP from the LDP, won 85,457 votes, defeating NCP candidate Mahbub Alam, who secured 56,437 votes.
In Chattogram-8 (Chandgaon-Boalkhali), BNP candidate Ershad Ullah, former first vice-president of the BGMEA, won with 152,969 votes, defeating Jamaat candidate Abu Naser, who secured 52,564 votes.
BNP candidate Shama Obaid Islam, a family member of Sparrow Group was also elected unofficially from Faridpur-2, securing 121,694 votes, while her nearest rival, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis candidate Md Akram Ali, received 89,305 votes.