Trashing the Foreign Minister’s allegation of hiring lobbyists by their party to harm the country’s interests, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday said they are only working to save the country from the grasp of ‘miscreants’.

"It’s clear that BNP hasn’t appointed any lobbyist. Hope, you (journalists) won’t have any confusion about it,” he said.

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Speaking at a press conference at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, Fakhrul also said what the Foreign Minister said about engaging lobbyists by BNP is a complete lie.

It was Fakhrul’s first appearance before the media since he along with his wife tested positive for Covid-19 on January 10.

"I would like to clearly say whatever we do we do to protect the country. This doesn’t mean we’ve hired lobbyists to save the country…I again say whatever we do we do it to protect the country from the hands of miscreants. But it’s not right at all that we’ve hired lobbyists,” he said.

The BNP leader also said their party standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain earlier categorically said no lobbyist was appointed by BNP from Bangladesh.

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Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said Awami League appointed lobbyists to promote good governance and a positive image of Bangladesh while BNP hired many lobbyists with a motive to harm the country.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on January 18 alleged that BNP spent at least US$ 3.75 million on hiring lobbyists to campaign against Bangladesh, and he shared relevant documents with the media which are also available in the public domain.

Two days later, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf turned down the allegation and said it is Awami League that spent huge public money by appointing lobbyists abroad to hush up its "misdeeds and repressive acts".