Bogura-2 constituency’s newly elected Member of Parliament Mir Shahe Alam was sworn in on Tuesday as the State Minister for the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. The appointment ended a long wait for ministerial representation from Bogura, creating a festive atmosphere across the district.

Mir Shahe Alam, who contested under the BNP’s ‘sheaf of paddy’ symbol, won the Bogura-2 (Shibganj) seat with 145,000 votes, defeating Jamaat candidate Abul Azad Mohammad Shahadatuzzaman, who received 93,000 votes. Known as a grassroots organizer, Alam serves as president of Shibganj Upazila BNP and vice-president of the district BNP. He was elected chairman of Shibganj Upazila Parishad in 2009. Earlier, the BNP alliance had nominated Mahmudur Rahman Manna of Nagorik Oikya, but later replaced him with Alam.

Bogura had not had a minister since 1991, when Advocate Mojibur Rahman served as state minister for finance. All seven BNP-nominated candidates in Bogura won in the recent election, including Abdul Mohit Talukdar from Bogura-3 and Morshed Milton from Bogura-7, both former upazila chairmen.