Ariful Haque's ascent from councillor to minister reads like a fairy tale
Starting in student politics, Arif rose through the ranks of the BNP, serving as president of Sylhet Metropolitan BNP, general secretary of Sylhet District BNP, and a central executive committee member.
Veteran BNP leader Ariful Haque Chowdhury, widely known as Arif, was sworn in as a full minister today and named for the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment.
Arif's political journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. Starting in student politics, he rose through the ranks of the BNP, serving as president of Sylhet Metropolitan BNP, general secretary of Sylhet District BNP, and a central executive committee member. Today, he is an adviser to BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman.
His rise was largely due to the support of the then Sylhet-1 MP and BNP Finance and Planning Minister M. Saifur Rahman during the previous four-party alliance government. In 2003, Arif was elected commissioner of Ward-18 of Sylhet City Corporation. His close ties with Saifur made him the main figure behind the city's development projects. As commissioner, he led the Urban Development and Planning Committee and was popularly called the "shadow mayor."
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In 2007, Arif's rise suffered a major setback when the military-backed caretaker government came to power. His name appeared on the list of the country's top 50 alleged corruption offenders, and he was briefly imprisoned. The death of Saifur Rahman and political marginalisation within BNP left him politically cornered, with many assuming his career was over.
Defying expectations, Arif secured the BNP nomination for the 2013 Sylhet City Corporation mayoral election, defeating the late Awami League mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran. In 2018, he was the only BNP candidate to win among five city corporation contests, earning praise for development work. He did not contest the 2023 election due to party directives but was later appointed adviser to BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, moving from his central committee role.
The 12 February election brought another dramatic turn in Arif's career. Originally aiming for Sylhet-1, he was redirected by the party high command to Sylhet-4. After a spirited campaign, he won the seat under the BNP's "Dhaner Shish" (paddy sheaf) symbol with 181,609 votes, now stepping into two ministerial roles with an eye on shaping Sylhet's development and national policy.
