Bangladesh, Oct. 19 -- Ishraque Hossain, the Member of Parliament from the Dhaka-6 constituency, has formally resigned as the state minister of the government.

News portals said the Cabinet Division received his resignation letter on Monday and a notification would be issued in this regard tonight.

Earlier at a press conference held at the National Press Club on Monday afternoon, Ishraque announced that he chose to step down voluntarily to avoid putting the Prime Minister or the BNP in an uncomfortable position.

Ishraque said he spoke to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and expressed his willingness to resign from the post of State Minister for Liberation War Affairs.

Despite stepping down from his ministerial portfolio, he reaffirmed h...