The parliamentary seat of deceased Awami League leader Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury has been declared vacant following her death on Sunday.
The Parliament Secretariat issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday.
The Faridpur-2 lawmaker breathed her last while undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka at 11:40pm on Sunday. She had been admitted to the hospital with post-Covid-19 complications two weeks previously.
Sajeda Chowdhury, a presidium member of the ruling Awami League, was Sheikh Hasina’s long-time companion in street movements. She received the Independence Award in 2010.
She became the party’s general secretary in 1986 and held the position till 1992 when she was inducted into the presidium.
Following the landslide victory of the Awami League in the 2008 general election, she was initially appointed deputy leader of the house in 2009.
After the Awami League won the 2014 election, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury was reappointed to the same position.
In 2019, she was elected member of parliament from Faridpur-2 constituency for the seventh time and elected deputy leader of the House for the third time.
Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, one of the organizers of the Liberation War, was born in a respected Muslim family in Magura in 1935.
She joined the Awami League in 1956. She served as the founding general secretary of Mohila Awami League from 1969 to 1975.
She was the founding director of Kolkata Gobra Nursing Camp during the Liberation War.
The veteran politician also served as the acting general secretary of the Awami League.
Apart from politics, she also engaged herself in social work and contributed to the development of sports, cultural and religious institutions.
