NN Online:
The Election Commission (EC) has collected information to include Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, in the national voter list.
EC officials confirmed that her data was obtained during the ongoing door-to-door voter list update campaign in Dhaka.
“Zubaida Rahman’s details have been collected under the current voter list updating programme,” said EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed while speaking to the media on Monday. He added that an individual’s name is added to the final list only after the full completion of the data verification and registration process.
According to electoral laws, a person must be a registered voter to contest in any election. For parliamentary polls, a candidate may run from any constituency across the country.
Zubaida Rahman and her husband Tarique Rahman have been living in London since they left Bangladesh on September 11, 2008, shortly after the introduction of the photograph-based voter registration process.
However, Zubaida returned to Bangladesh on May 6 this year, accompanying BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia following her medical treatment in London. She departed for London again on June 5.
EC officials said Zubaida’s personal information was gathered in Dhaka before Eid-ul-Azha.
As per the law, the draft voter list must be published by January 2, 2026, while the final list is scheduled for release by March 2. However, if the upcoming national election is held in February, the EC is considering amending the law to finalize the voter list earlier.
A physician by profession, Zubaida was born on May 18, 1972, in Dakshin Surma Upazila of Sylhet District. She excelled in her higher secondary education and later studied at Dhaka Medical College. She married Tarique Rahman on February 3, 1994.
Zubaida earned her MBBS degree with distinction and began her career in government service in 1995, securing the top position in the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS-Health) examination.
