Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman appointed Tufail Ahmed as his Political Secretary with the rank of Minister of State on 14 January 1972. Tufail Ahmed was later elected as a Member of Parliament from his district, Bhola in 1973.
When the Awami League came to power in 1996, long after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tofail Ahmed served as the Minister of Industries and Commerce. He has also held the post of Commerce Minister in 2013 and 2014.
Tufail Ahmed mentioned that he had been to jail 33 times since 1975, one example of which was being in jail for 33 consecutive months. Throughout his political career, he advocated the demands of the people on various issues including social, political and economic matters in Parliament.
Tofail Ahmed expressed his last wish to build the Bhola-Barishal bridge, establish a public university and develop an international standard stadium in Bhola.