Businesspersons will make up more than half of the new parliament, according to affidavits filed with the Election Commission during the election.
In total, 178 lawmakers declared “business” as their profession in the affidavits. Except for two of them, who did not declare their incomes, the average annual income of these lawmakers is Tk 1 crore.
The second-largest group is lawyers, with 40 elected to parliament. Their average annual income is Tk 26.8 lakh.
Fourteen lawmakers identified themselves as farmers or involved in agriculture, with an average annual income of Tk 11.7 lakh.
The lowest-earning farmer is Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Md Golam Rabbani of Rangpur-5, who earns Tk 40,000 per year. However, he has movable assets worth Tk 22.9 lakh, while his wife has movable assets worth Tk 16.5 lakh.
At least 28 teachers were elected to parliament, all but four of them from Jamaat.
Only nine people identified themselves as politicians.
From the BNP, they are Chairperson Tarique Rahman; Khulna-4 lawmaker Azizul Bari Helal; Chandpur-1’s ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon; Khagrachhari’s Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan; Barishal-2’s Sarder Sharfuddin Ahmed; Bhola-4’s Md Nurul Islam; and Manikganj-2’s Moinul Islam Khan.
From Jamaat, they are Rangpur-2’s ATM Azharul Islam and Rajshahi-1’s Md Mujibur Rahman.
At least 10 doctors were elected to parliament -- three from Jamaat and the rest from the BNP.
While the highest-earning doctor is Jamaat’s Md Moselehuddin Farid, who practices and earns abroad, the average income of the doctor-lawmakers is Tk 18 lakh annually.
Other members of parliament include retired professionals, private job holders and scientists.
The top earner in parliament is BNP’s Zakaria Taher from Cumilla-8, with an annual income of Tk 59.1 crore. He also has the highest movable assets, amounting to Tk 172.3 crore.
Zakaria, however, is an outlier. The second-highest earner is Dhaka-8’s Mirza Abbas from the BNP, whose annual income is Tk 9.26 crore.
The candidate with the second-highest value of immovable assets is BNP’s Md Jalal Uddin of Chandpur-2. The assets were valued at Tk 55.2 crore at the time of purchase, but their current value has risen to Tk 220.7 crore.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker with the lowest income is also from the BNP -- Noakhali-4’s Md Shahjahan, whose annual income is Tk 32,822 from share investments.
Shahjahan, however, has nearly Tk 18 lakh in cash, while his wife has Tk 12.3 lakh in cash. His bank deposits are Tk 31.5 lakh, and both he and his wife have Tk 1.25 crore each in bonds and stocks. He also owns vehicles worth Tk 60 lakh, while his wife has immovable properties worth Tk 1.9 crore.
BNP lawmaker Naser Rahman of Moulvibazaar-3 has the highest immovable assets at Tk 56.6 crore, with a stated current value of Tk 87 crore.
All of the top 20 lawmakers with the highest movable and immovable assets belong to the BNP.
Independent lawmakers have the highest annual income on average -- Tk 37.5 lakh.
The average annual income of BNP lawmakers is Tk 20.9 lakh, while Jamaat lawmakers average Tk 5.9 lakh.
The sole Islami Andolon Bangladesh lawmaker, Barguna-1’s Oli Ullah, has total assets worth Tk 1 crore.
Among parliamentarians from the National Citizen Party, Dhaka-11 lawmaker Nahid Islam has the highest income, earning Tk 16 lakh from consultancies, while Kurigram-2 elect Atikur Rahman Mojahid earns the least. He also has the lowest assets, amounting to Tk 7.32 lakh.
