Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Photo: BSS

DHAKA, March 31, 2026 (BSS) - Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is the current Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since March 30, 2016. 

Before that, he served as the Acting Secretary General of the party for five years, starting from March 20, 2011, a PID handout said today. 

He was named Senior Joint Secretary General of the party at the 5th National Council held on December 8, 2009.

He was nominated as a Member of Parliament in the 8th National Parliamentary Election in 2001 from his native area, Thakurgaon-01 constituency, as a BNP candidate. 

He served as State Minister for the Ministry of Agriculture and also for Civil Aviation and Tourism from 2001 to 2006. He contested the 9th Parliamentary Election in 2008.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir began his political journey in the 1960s when he was a student in the Department of Economics at Dhaka University. 

At that time, he joined the East Pakistan Students Union (EPSU), the student wing of the East Pakistan Communist Party. 

He was elected Secretary General of the Dhaka University S.M. Hall unit of the organization. 

He later became President of the prestigious Dhaka University unit during the mass uprising against President Ayub Khan in 1969. He was arrested and imprisoned for political reasons.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir resigned from his government job in 1986 and joined active politics. 

He was elected Chairman of Thakurgaon Municipality in 1988 as a neutral candidate. He joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the early 1990s amid the countrywide anti-Ershad movement. 

In 1992, he was made President of the Thakurgaon District BNP.

Renowned politician Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was born on January 26, 1948, in Thakurgaon District. 

He completed his Master's degree with Honours in Economics from the University of Dhaka. After completing his education, he began his career as a lecturer at Dhaka College as a member of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Education Cadre). 

He served as a teacher in several government colleges. Among other government responsibilities, he worked as Deputy Director at the Directorate of Inspection and Audit of the Bangladesh Government and also worked with the UNESCO National Commission.

He also served as the Personal Secretary to the then Deputy Prime Minister S.A. Bari during the administration of President Ziaur Rahman in late 1979, a position he held until S.A. Bari resigned in 1982.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is married to Rahat Ara Begum, who attended the University of Calcutta and is currently working in an insurance company in Dhaka. 

The couple has two daughters: Mirza Shamaruh and Mirza Safaruh. 

Shamaruh attended the University of Dhaka and was a teacher there. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow in Australia. 

The younger daughter, Safaruh, also a graduate of the University of Dhaka, is now working as a teacher at a reputed school in Dhaka.

His younger brother, Mirza Faisal Amin, is the General Secretary of Thakurgaon District BNP and the elected Chairman of Thakurgaon Municipality.

His father, Mirza Ruhul Amin, an eminent lawyer and renowned politician, was elected Member of Parliament several times from the Thakurgaon constituency. 

He also served as Minister of Agriculture under the Government of Bangladesh.

His uncle, Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, was a BNP politician who served as Minister of Land (1978-79), Minister of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs (1991-96), and Speaker of the 2nd National Parliament of Bangladesh (1979-82). 

He was elected Member of Parliament from a Dhaka constituency in 1979.

Another uncle, Wing Commander S.R. Mirza, served in the Mujibnagar Government in exile formed in April 1971. 

He was appointed to head the newly formed Directorate of Youth Camps, overseeing training facilities for freedom fighter recruits in 1971.