“I Did Not Get the Opportunity to Work for My Area as Much as I Should Have”: NCP Leader Mahmuda Mitu

PNN News Desk | Dhaka

National Citizen Party (NCP) leader and reserved women’s seat lawmaker Dr. Mahmuda Alam Mitu has alleged that she did not get the opportunity to work for the development of her constituency as much as she had expected after becoming a member of parliament. She claimed that the people of her area were also deprived of development because her political identity resulted in insufficient government allocations.

Mahmuda Mitu made the remarks in a post published on her verified Facebook account on Sunday (October 4). She said that although reserved-seat lawmakers have the same constitutional status as other members of parliament, she had questioned even before the election whether they actually receive equal opportunities to undertake development work in their respective areas.

Mahmuda Mitu said one of the primary responsibilities of lawmakers is to formulate laws and participate in running the state. At the same time, lawmakers also have opportunities to work directly for people in their constituencies through government development allocations. She considers going to the people, listening to their concerns and standing beside them when needed to be one of the most important aspects of politics.

She alleged that as a reserved-seat woman lawmaker from the opposition, her constituency did not receive the expected level of development allocations. She said a small amount of allocations under KABIKHA and KABITA schemes had been received from the government, which had to be distributed between two upazilas.

However, she assured that there would be no irregularities in the use of the limited allocation. Mahmuda Mitu said she had personally visited the most dilapidated roads in the area. If more allocations are received in the future, she said, work to improve those roads would be undertaken in phases on a priority basis.

The NCP leader also said that party identity should not be given priority in the distribution of development allocations. According to her, even if a BNP worker or supporter is the genuine claimant of a development allocation, that person should not be deprived of it because of political affiliation.

Mahmuda Mitu said one of the main objectives of politics should be to ensure people’s rights. She said she was against a culture in which someone receives more resources based on personal preferences or another person is denied what they are entitled to because of such preferences. At the same time, she acknowledged that there could be mistakes in her own decisions and said she should have the willingness to correct them.

Speaking about her political journey, Mahmuda Mitu said she entered politics after leaving the medical profession following the July movement, with a commitment to work for the people. She said her political pledge is not to commit injustice herself and to take a stand against injustice whenever she sees it.

Describing the infrastructural condition of her constituency, she said her area is one of the comparatively underdeveloped regions of the country. Local residents are regularly suffering because of the poor condition of roads and communication infrastructure, she added.

The NCP lawmaker believes that elected representatives need to work together beyond political divisions for the development of their area. She said local development could be advanced more effectively if broader public interest is prioritized above political competition.