Bangladesh, Aug. 13 -- Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has stepped down as BNP secretary general and member of the BNP National Standing Committee after being nominated by the ruling party as its candidate for Bangladesh's presidency.

He announced his decision at a high-level BNP meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday.

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman chaired the meeting with members of the party's Standing Committee and senior leaders before announcing Fakhrul's name as the party's presidential candidate.

Fakhrul resigned from his current party positions immediately afterwards.

The BNP Standing Committee had assigned Tarique the responsibility of selecting the party's presidential candidate at a meeting on Aug 1.

Several Standing Committee ...