Dhaka's two mayors, Annisul Huq and Sayeed Khokon, have been given the status and privileges of a minister while that of Narayanganj, Selina Hayat Ivy, of a deputy minister, said Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam quoting a cabinet division gazette issued and to be effective from yesterday.

The status of the remaining eight mayors of Khulna, Sylhet, Rangpur, Barisal, Gazipur, Rajshahi, Comilla and Chittagong city corporations will remain the same.

According to LGRD ministry sources, Dhaka city mayor Naziur Rahman Manju was first given the facilities of a state minister during military dictator HM Ershad's autocratic rule in 1990.

Later, Awami League supported mayor Mohammad Hanif enjoyed the status during his tenure from 1994 to 2002.

During BNP rule, the then Dhaka city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka was given the facilities of a minister during his tenure from 2002 to 2011.

During caretaker government rule in 2008, AL supported mayors Talukdar Abdul Khaleque in Khulna, AHM Khairuzzaman Liton in Rajshahi, Shawkat Hossain Hiron in Barisal and Badruddin Ahmed Kamran in Sylhet were awarded the status of a state minister on September 9. Formed in 2009, the AL-led grand alliance government gave no such privilege to mayors elected during its tenure.

They include BNP-backed Chittagong mayor M Manjur Alam (elected on June 17, 2010), independent Narayanganj mayor Selina Hayat Ivy (elected on October 30, 2011) and pro-BNP Comilla mayor Monirul Huq Sakku (elected on January 5, 2012).

The only pro-AL mayor was Sarfuddin Ahmed of Rangpur (elected on December 19, 2012).  The trend continued during the AL-led government's second consecutive term from 2013. During this time BNP-backed mayors came to office defeating AL-backed candidates in Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal, Khulna and Gazipur.