Reza Kibria joins BNP

Reza Kibria, son of the late Awami League leader and former finance minister Shah A M S Kibria, has formally joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). 

He officially joined the party on Monday morning at the BNP Chairperson's office in Gulshan.

The joining ceremony took place at 11:00am. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed were present at the event.

Welcoming Reza Kibria to the BNP, Mirza Fakhrul said, "We are extremely proud that Reza Kibria has joined the BNP. I congratulate him on behalf of our party's Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman."

"Under the light of the BNP's 31-point demand, Reza Kibria will be able to play a constructive role in building Bangladesh," he added.

Reza Kibria intends to contest the upcoming national parliamentary election from the Habiganj-1 constituency under the BNP's Sheaf of Paddy symbol. The party has announced candidates for 237 seats (with one being postponed), leaving the Habiganj-1 seat vacant. 

In the 11th National Parliamentary Election held in 2018, Reza Kibria had previously contested the same seat using the BNP's Sheaf of Paddy symbol as a candidate for the party's coalition partner Jatiya Oikya Front.

Prior to the 2018 National Parliamentary Election, Reza Kibria joined Gono Forum and later became its General Secretary. The party subsequently split into two factions centred around him. Following this, he co-founded the Gono Odhikar Parishad with the former Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) VP Nurul Haque Nur, serving as its Convenor. 

This party also later fractured into two divisions, again centred on him. Reza Kibria subsequently served as the founding convenor of the splinter group Amjanatar Dal.