Putul in Father's Footsteps: State Minister of the Same Ministry After 30 Years

After almost 30 years, daughter Farzana Sharmin Putul took charge of the same department that her father left. She took oath as the State Minister of the Ministry of Social Welfare, where her father Fazlur Rahman Potol was the Minister of State in 1996, on February 17, 2026. She has also been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

Putul got this important responsibility after being elected as a member of parliament for the first time from the Natore-1 constituency. Her father served as the State Minister of Communications in 1991 and the State Minister of Social Welfare in 1993. He left his post with the transfer of power on March 30, 1996. After three long decades, his daughter took charge of that memorable ministry.

Putul, who graduated from the Law Department of Dhaka University and obtained a higher degree from BPP University College, London, is a lawyer by profession. She started practicing law in the District Court in 2008 and in the Supreme Court in 2012. After the student-public movement of 2024, Dr. He also served as a member of the Anti-Corruption Commission Reform Commission of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.

Although born in a political family, his formal journey into active politics began in 2016, after the death of his father. He has served as the joint convener of the Natore district branch of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and as the special assistant to the party chairperson's foreign affairs advisory committee. He also played an important role in the party's human rights and media cell.

His victory in the Natore-1 constituency in this election was not easy. After a tough fight with his brother Yasir Arshad, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Abul Kalam Azad, and a rebel candidate from the party, he won by a margin of about 12,000 votes. The locals expect that Farzana Sharmin Putul will play an important role in the development of Natore and the country by leading responsibly like her father.