Mir Shahe Alam faces questions in parliament over new union names

An opposition lawmaker today accused State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Mir Shahe Alam of naming three newly formed unions after his family members. The minister, however, denied the allegation, claiming the names "miraculously" matched those of his sons.

During supplementary budget discussions before the Maghrib prayer break, Jamaat MP Shafiqul Islam alleged that in Shahe Alam’s Bogura-2 constituency, one union had been named “Mirbari” after his family lineage, while two others -- “Digonto” and “Simanto” -- were named after his sons.

He reminded the House that the prime minister had previously rejected proposals to name institutions after family members, warning that such practices echoed favouritism seen during past authoritarian regimes.

Shahe Alam’s constituency was reorganised last month when Shibganj upazila was split to form the new Mokamtola upazila with five unions. On June 11, Syedpur union was divided to create Simanto union, while Deuli union was split to form Digonto union.

Other unions were reorganised into Swarnogram union and a new municipality, while another new union, Mirbari, was also formed.

A gazette signed by the Bogura deputy commissioner confirmed the changes.

After the break, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni requested Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad to allow the state minister to clarify. Taking the floor, Shahe Alam denied the allegations, explaining that the names were chosen by the deputy commissioner based on geography.

Syedpur union was border-adjacent, hence “Simanto,” while Deuli was distant, hence “Digonto.”

“If I had wanted, I would have asked the DC to name them ‘Mir Simanto’ or ‘Mir Digonto.’ But the prefix ‘Mir’ is not there,” he said. Adding humour, the minister said, “Allah saved me that the honourable member did not claim Border Guard’s [BGB] Simanto Bank is mine, or that the Simanto Express train from Khulna to Parbatipur belongs to me, or that Digonto Tower in Gulshan-1 or Digonto TV are mine.”