Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, former LGRD minister and an Awami League MP elected from Faridpur-3, was removed as chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on LGRD ministry on Sunday.Nurul Islam Nahid, former education minister and AL lawmaker from Sunamganj, replaced Mosharraf in the committee.Chief Whip of parliament, Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury Liton, on behalf of Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina, placed the proposal on the floor which was passed by voice vote.
Khandker Mosharraf, who has been staying abroad for long, has remained absent in parliament.Since March, last year, the parliamentary standing committee on LGRD ministry couldn’t hold any meeting due to his absence in parliament, sources at the parliament secretariat said. The parliamentary body held only two meetings in 2022.
According to the rules of procedure of Parliament, a parliamentary body is supposed to hold at least one meeting in a month.But the JS body didn’t hold any meeting in the last 10 months.Mosharraf was absent in the last four sessions of Parliament.He also remained absent in Awami League’s politics in Faridpur for the last two and a half years.In 2008, he was elected as the first MP from Faridpur-3 constituency on the nomination of Awami League.
Mosharraf who joined the AL politics in 1996, became MP for the first time in 2008 national election. He was made the minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry. After that, he established absolute control over the politics of Awami League in Faridpur.His loyalists allegedly amassed wealth by controlling tenders for development works of various government agencies, extorting money and grabbing land, according to media reports.
Mosharraf was elected MP for the second time in 2014. He then got the responsibility of LGRD ministry.He was re-elected a member of parliament in the 2018 election. But this time he was not given any ministry.He was made the chief of the JS body on LGRD ministry. His followers had reportedly established a reign of terror in Faridpur and all these activities were led allegedly by Sazzad Hossain and his brother Imtiaz Hossain.
The two much talked about brothers came into politics with the blessings of Mosharraf and his elder brother Mohteshan Hossain, who is now behind bars.On May 16, 2020, Awami League president Subalchandra Saha’s house was attacked in Faridpur and the two brothers were arrested in a special police operation on June 7 that year. After that, Mosharraf Hossain was basically exiled from local politics.
On March 8, last year, police arrested Mosharraf’s brother Mohtesham Hossain in a money laundering case. After a few days, Mosharraf became completely inactive in parliament.He left for Switzerland at the end of last April, sources said.
