Several leaders have served as secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party over the roughly 48 years since its founding. Some held the party’s key organisational post for a few years, others for more than a decade. Seasoned politicians and high-profile figures alike have occupied it. Many left the post with a record of success; for some it ended in humiliation.
The longest-serving BNP secretary general is Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. He took charge as acting secretary general in 2011 and became full secretary general in 2016. After receiving the party’s nomination for president, he resigned on Thursday, Aug 13, from the post and from all other party positions.
This is a record of who has held the party’s second-ranking post, and for how long.
When the BNP was founded on Sept 1, 1978, Prof Dr A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury was made its first secretary general. He held the post for about eight years, from 1978 to 1986. During his tenure the party chairmen were Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia.
He was followed by Lt Col (retd) Mostafizur Rahman, who served for about a year, from 1986 to 1987.
K M Obaidur Rahman became secretary general in 1987. The former student leader’s tenure was short, lasting about a year.
He was replaced in 1988 by Barrister Abdus Salam Talukder, who held the post for about eight years, from 1988 to 1996. He lost it after the BNP’s defeat in the 1996 election.
Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, previously a joint secretary general, took charge in June 1996 and served for 11 consecutive years, one of the longest tenures in the party’s history. The party says he broke faith with its senior leadership during the one-eleven period, and he was expelled in 2007.
Khondkar Delwar Hossain, until then a member of the standing committee, was made acting secretary general at a difficult time for the party. He took charge in January 2007 and remained secretary general for about four years, until his death on Mar 16, 2011.
After his death, senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was given charge as acting secretary general. He was formally made secretary general on Mar 30, 2016, after five years in the acting role, though he had effectively been running the post since March 2011. Counting to his resignation in August 2026, after receiving the party’s presidential nomination, his tenure comes to about 15 years and five months.
Tenures of BNP secretaries general
A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury: 1978-1986, about eight years
Mostafizur Rahman: 1986-1987, about one year
K M Obaidur Rahman: 1987-1988, about one year
Abdus Salam Talukder: 1988-1996, about eight years
Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan: 1996-2007, about 11 years
Khondkar Delwar Hossain: 2007-2011, about four years
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir: 2011-2026, about 15 years and five months; acting at first, full secretary general from 2016.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is therefore the longest-serving secretary general in the BNP’s history, followed by Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan. The founding secretary general, A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury, and Abdus Salam Talukder each served about eight years.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report