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Who is Nitai Roy Chowdhury, the only Hindu minister in Tarique Rahman's cabinet in Bangladesh
BNP’s Nitai Roy Chowdhury, a senior BNP leader and Ershad-era minister, was sworn in with Tarique Rahman as cabinet minister.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Tarique Rahman took oath as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, along with 25 ministers and 24 state ministers on Tuesday.
While the cabinet members included some new and old faces, two of them belonged to the minority communities. While BNP Vice President Nitai Roy Chowdhury belonged to the Hindu community, Dipen Dewan, a Buddhist, was also nominated in the cabinet.
Advocate, prominent face in BNP
Nitai Roy Chowdhury, a prominent face in the party, is also a senior advisor and strategist for the top BNP leadership. An advocate by profession, he won the western Magura constituency, defeating the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
Chowdhury is an alumnus of the University of Dhaka and completed his early education at Magura Government College, his social media profile shows. He then pursued law at the University of Dhaka.
Served in Ershad Hussain's government
The Vice Chairman of BNP's Central Committee, Roy, has also served as Minister of Youth and Sports for about 3 months from September 1990 in Hussain Muhammad Ershad's government, India Today reported. He joined BNP following the fall of Ershad's regime and became Vice Chairman.
Critic of Hasina government
Chowdhury has been vocal in criticising the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In 2024, on the eve of Bangladesh's general elections, Chowdhury alleged that Hasina led government is neck deep in corruption. “This government, out and out from head to neck, is corrupt. They have connections. This is not a democratic government,” he told PTI.
Nitai Roy Chowdhury also has a daughter named Nipun Roy Chowdhury, who is also an active member of BNP. She has earlier served in BNP's leadership positions in district level.
In the recent general elections, Roy was elected as an MP from Magura-2 on a BNP ticket, defeating his rival from Jamaat-e-Islami.
Hindus reportedly make up about eight per cent of the population in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people.
Four minority candidates elected to parliament
In total, four individuals from the minority community were elected to the Bangladesh parliament, including Goyeshwar Chandra Roy and Nitai Roy Chowdhury from the Hindu community.
The third person from the minority community was Dipen Dewan, belonging to the Buddhist-majority Chakma ethnic and Saching Pru, a follower of the Buddhist faith, was fourth.
