Don't know anything about becoming president: Mirza Fakhrul

Amid widespread speculation that BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir may be nominated for the presidency, he has said he knows nothing about the matter. When contacted by media on Sunday night, he said he had no information regarding a presidential nomination.

When asked about the matter around 8pm on Sunday, Mirza Fakhrul said, "I don't know anything about this. I have no knowledge of it."

Social media and various media outlets have been abuzz with discussions about Mirza Fakhrul as a potential BNP candidate for the upcoming presidential election. However, the party has not yet officially announced any name.

Meanwhile, BNP has collected two nomination forms for the presidential election. Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni and the Prime Minister's Political Adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi collected the forms from the office of the Chief Election Commissioner at Agargaon in the capital on Sunday.

According to party sources, Mirza Fakhrul's name is being discussed at the party level for the presidency. Voting in the presidential election is scheduled for August 20.

Throughout his long political career, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has held various important positions in BNP. In 1992, he was elected president of BNP's Thakurgaon district unit. He also served as vice-president of the Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal during the same period.

He contested the 1991 and 1996 national elections from Thakurgaon-1 constituency on a BNP ticket but did not win. He was elected MP for the first time in 2001, defeating Awami League's Ramesh Chandra Sen from the same seat.

When BNP formed the government in 2001, Mirza Fakhrul was first appointed State Minister for Agriculture and later State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism. He served in the cabinet until October 2006.

He lost to Ramesh Chandra Sen again in the 2008 national election from Thakurgaon-1. The following year, at BNP's fifth national council, he was elected the party's senior joint secretary general.

Following the death of then BNP Secretary General Khondaker Delwar Hossain on March 20, 2011, the party Chairperson Khaleda Zia appointed Mirza Fakhrul as acting secretary general. He was elected secretary general at BNP's sixth national council on March 19, 2016, and has held the position since then.

The Election Commission announced the schedule for the presidential election on August 6. According to the schedule, August 13 is the last date for filing nominations, August 16 for scrutiny, and August 18 is the deadline for withdrawal. If there are multiple candidates, voting will take place at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on August 20.

Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance has announced LDP Chairman Colonel (retd.) Oli Ahmed as its candidate. If the election becomes contested, it could be the first presidential election with multiple candidates since 1991.