MPs applaud as Tarique Rahman presides over the first meeting of the BNP Parliamentary Party at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban this morning (17 February 2026). Photo: BNP Media Cell
Originally posted in The Business Standard 17 February 2026
Several newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) of the BNP and its allied parties have received calls from the Cabinet Division to take the oath as ministers and state ministers in the new cabinet set to be led by BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman — who is also set to serve as the prime minister.
According to information from the Cabinet Division and BNP sources, those who are likely to join the new Cabinet include Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Zahir Uddin Swapan, Khaleda Zia’s personal physician AZM Zahid Hossain, Shama Obaid Islam, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Khandakar Abdul Muktadir, and Mir Shah Alam.
Also, Farzana Rahman Putul, Ishraque Hossain, Faridul Islam, Yeasir Khan Chowdhury, Habibur Rashid, Rajib Ahsan, Md Abdul Bari, Mir Shahe Alam, Ahammed Sohel Manjur, Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam, Forhad Hossain Azad, and Andaleeve Rahman Partho also got the calls, among others.
Ministers
Mirza Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.
He told The Business Standard, “I don’t know yet what responsibility I will be assigned. I cannot comment on it at the moment. Hopefully, I will find out by this evening.”
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister for Finance and Planning.
Salahuddin Ahmed
Salahuddin Ahmed, who is a BNP standing committee member and MP from Cox’s Bazar-1, got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the home affairs minister.
Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku
Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, BNP candidate who won from Sirajganj-2, got a call from the Cabinet division, he himself confirmed the matter to The Business Standard.
He is likely to become the minister of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
Hafizuddin Ahmed
Hafizuddin Ahmed got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Liberation War Affairs.
AZM Zahid
AZM Zahid got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister for the Social Welfare ministry and for the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
Dr Khalilur Rahman (technocrat)
Dr Khalilur Rahman, who served as the national security adviser of Bangladesh and as the high representative on the Rohingya Issue in the Interim government, got a call from the Cabinet. He is likely to become the foreign minister.
Abdul Awal Mintoo
Abdul Awal Mintoo, BNP candidate who won from Feni-3, is likely to become the Environment minister.
Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad
Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, the BNP candidate from Cumilla-3, got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Religious Affairs. He has contested the National Parliament election six times from the Cumilla-3 (Muradnagar) constituency and has been elected five times.
Mizanur Rahman Minu
Mizanur Rahman Minu got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Land.
Nitai Roy Chowdhury
Nitai Roy Chowdhury got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Cultural Affairs.
Khandaker Abdul Muktadir
Khandaker Abdul Muktadir got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the ministries of Commerce, Industries, Textiles and Jute.
Ariful Haque Chowdhury
Ariful Haque Chowdhury has received a call to take oath as a minister. He will likely become the minister of the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment together.
When contacted around 12:30pm, he told Prothom Alo, “I will work inclusively with everyone. The party has evaluated and elevated a grassroots worker like me, and I want to repay that trust through my work. I seek everyone’s prayers.”
Zahir Uddin Swapan
Zahir Uddin Swapan got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Information and Broadcasting.
Aminur Rashid Yasin (technocrat)
Aminur Rashid Yasin has received a call to take the oath as minister. He is likely to be sworn in as a technocrat minister for the ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock, and Food.
Afroza Khanam Rita
Afroza Khanam Rita got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee
Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Water Resources.
Asadul Habib Dulu
Asadul Habib Dulu, BNP candidate who won from Lalmonirhat-3 constituency, got a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Disaster Management and Relief.
Asaduzzaman Asad
Former attorney general Asaduzzaman Asad got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
Zakaria Taher
Zakaria Taher (Sumon) has received a call to join the Cabinet Division. He will likely become the minister for Housing and Public Works.
Dipen Dewan
Dipen Dewan got a call to join the new cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.
Ehsanul Haque Milon
Former State Minister for Education Ehsanul Haque Milon, who was the MP from Chandpur-1, has received a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister for Education and Primary and Mass Education.
ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon served as Bangladesh’s State Minister for Education from 2001 to 2006. He was widely noted for his strict measures against cheating and rigorous oversight of examinations. To curb malpractice, he frequently visited numerous public exam centres across multiple education boards on the same day, sometimes travelling by helicopter without following standard protocols.
Sardar Shakhawat Hossain Bakul
Sardar Shakhawat Hossain Bakul got a call to join the new cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Health and Family Welfare.
Fokir Mahbub Anam
Fokir Mahbub Anam, who won as the BNP candidate in Tangail-1, got a call to join the new cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology as well as the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Sheikh Robiul Alam
Shaikh Rabiul Alam, BNP MP from Dhaka-10, got a call to join the new cabinet. He is likely to become the minister for the ministries of Road Transport and Highways, Railway and Shipping.
State ministers
Mirza Abbas
Mirza Abbas, a member of BNP’s national standing committee and the elected MP from Dhaka-8, got a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to become the minister of Housing and Public Works.
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, former minister for Health and Family Welfare and the elected MP from Cumilla-1, got a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to join the minister for the Ministry of Health.
Zonayed Saki
Zonayed Saki got a call to join the Cabinet division and is likely to become a state minister for the ministries of Finance, Planning and Home Affairs.
Ishraque Hossain
BNP lawmaker from Dhaka-6 Ishraque Hossain got a call to join the new Cabinet. He is likely to join as the state minister for the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Boby Hajjaj
Bobby Hajjaj got a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to become the state minister for Education.
MA Muhit
MA Muhit told The Business Standard, “I am about to take the oath now.” However, he did not want to comment yet on which ministry he had received the call for.
Nurul Haque Nur
Nurul Haque Nur, elected from Patuakhali-3 (Galachipa-Dashmina) in the 13th National Parliament election, has also received a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to join as the state minister for the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment together.
Aminul Haque (technocrat)
Aminul Haque got a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to become a state minister.
Anind Islam Amit
Anind Islam Amit got a call to join the Cabinet. He is likely to become the Aviation minister.
Humayun Kabir
Humayun Kabir is likely to be appointed as a state minister for Foreign Affairs.
Farzana Sharmin
Farzana Sharmin, the newly elected Member of Parliament from Natore-1 (Lalpur-Bagatipara), has received a call to join the Cabinet. She won the Natore-1 seat as the BNP candidate.
Talking to The Business Standard she said, “I have been invited to become a state minister, but don’t know of which ministry yet.”
Md Helal Uddin
Md Helal Uddin got a call to join the Cabinet and is likely to become a state minister. He told The Business Standard that, “I have been invited to join the Cabinet as a state minister, but don’t know from which ministry yet.”
Kaiser Kamal
Kaiser Kamal has received a call to take oath as a state minister. He was elected from Netrokona-1 (Kalamkanda-Durgapur) and is serving as a Member of Parliament for the first time.
When contacted around 1:15pm, he told Prothom Alo, “I received a call this morning around 10:30am to take oath as State Minister for Land. I want to repay the trust the party has placed in me through my work. I seek everyone’s prayers.”
Rashiduzzaman Millat
M Rashiduzzaman Millat, who won the Jamalpur-1 (Dewanganj–Baksiganj) constituency in the 13th National Parliament election, has received a call to join the Cabinet, He is likely to be sworn in as a state minister.
Farhad Hossain Azad
Farhad Hossain Azad, elected from Panchagarh-2 (Boda and Debiganj) as a BNP candidate, is set to become a state minister. He serves as the Rural Development Affairs Secretary of the party’s National Executive Committee and is the Member Secretary of the Panchagarh District BNP.
Mir Shah Alam
Mir Shah Alam, MP from Bogura-2 (Shibganj), has received a call to be sworn in as a state minister. He was elected from the Bogura-2 constituency as a BNP-nominated candidate with the party’s electoral symbol, the paddy sheaf. Shah Alam is a vice-president of the Bogura district BNP.
Shariful Alam
Shariful Alam, the newly elected MP from Kishoreganj-6, is set to become a state minister as well. Elected as a BNP candidate, he secured his first-ever parliamentary victory in this election and took oath as an MP earlier today. He confirmed to Prothom Alo over the phone that he had received the call to join the Cabinet as a state minister.
The new Cabinet may consist of around 50 members. The Cabinet Division has arranged 49 vehicles to transport incoming ministers to the swearing-in ceremony, according to Prothom Alo. Of them, 25 may be full ministers and 24 state ministers. The Cabinet Division has already begun contacting those selected for oath-taking.
The swearing-in ceremony for new ministers will be held at 4pm at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
Earlier in the day, BNP’s newly elected MPs, who secured a two-thirds majority in the 13th parliamentary election, took oath at the parliament building under the leadership of party chairman Tarique Rahman. While they were sworn in as Members of Parliament, they did not take oath as members of the Constitutional Reform Council.
