With Tarique Rahman swearing in as Bangladesh Prime Minister, the country is hoping for a new beginning. Among the ministers who took oath on Tuesday included Nitai Roy Chowdhury, the only Hindu minister in the 25-member cabinet.
In the recent parliamentary elections on February 12, Chowdhury defeated Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Mustarshid Billah in Magura-2 constituency. The BNP won 209 out of 297 seats, while right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami bagged 68 seats in the elections
Who is Nitai Roy Chowdhury?
Nitai Roy Chowdhury is a senior leader of Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He has previously served as the vice president of the BNP and is currently the vice chairman of the party’s central committee.
Chowdhury was first elected to the Bangladesh parliament Jatiya Sangsad from Magura-2 in 1988. He served as a minister briefly in the Hussain Muhammad Ershad government in 1990. After the regime fell, Chowdhury joined the BNP.
His daughter, Nipun Roy Chowdhury is an executive member of the BNP while his son, Debashish Roy Chowdhury is a judge in the high court division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.
Three other candidates from minority communities also won in the elections and all of them are from BNP.
Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, who is a member of the BNP’s highest policy-making standing committee, is from the Hindu community. Saching Pru, a senior BNP leader and follower of the Buddhist faith, and Dipen Dewan, from the Buddhist majority Chakma ethnic minority group, were also elected. Dipen was also indcuted into the cabinet.
