Bangladesh, Oct. 22 -- BNP leader Ishraque Hossain has described the directive to resign from the Cabinet as the "best advice ever", claiming that a media outlet and a "vested-interest group" had been preparing a concerted campaign to malign him and assassinate his character.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Ishraque said he initially viewed the prime minister's directive to resign as a "punishment", but later realised that the decision was intended to safeguard his political future.

"The honourable prime minister gave me the best advice ever by instructing me to resign from the Cabinet, and I accepted it without hesitation," he wrote.

According to Ishraque, there had been plans to run "one devastating report after another and spread f...