Rahat Ara Begum, wife of BNP Secretary General and the party’s nominee for Thakurgaon-1 constituency Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, sought votes for the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ at a women’s rally in the northwestern district.
“He (Alamgir) is aging now — please vote for the Sheaf of Paddy to ensure his victory. You will not be disappointed,” she told an interfaith rally of some one thousand women.
She said her husband “never left your side” and stayed beside the people like a family member.
Over a hundred men and women from the Hindu community joined the BNP at the event organised by Akcha Union BNP under Thakurgaon Sadar upazila.
Rahat Ara Begum listened to the women’s concerns and discussed the role of women in overcoming socio-economic challenges.
A participant named Protima Rani said “we shared with her what kinds of work women in our region are skilled at (while) we are hopeful that they (Alamgir couple) will help create opportunities for us to become entrepreneurs”.
Rehena Parvin, another participant of the rally said “we, the women of Thakurgaon, have long been neglected (and so) we want genuine works to be done for our welfare and we want to contribute to society”.
“I thought it would be a small courtyard meeting, but you have turned it into a women’s rally — thank you all,” Rahat Ara Begum told the rally as the chief guest.
District Mahila Dal president Foratun Nahar Paris chaired the rally while former chairman of Akcha Union Parishad and BNP president of Akcha Union Golam Sarwar Chowdhury, district Mahila Dal general secretary Nazma Parvin, and information and research secretary Shahnaz Parvin also spoke, among others.
