Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) Secretary General Dr Md Shahjahan on Tuesday night said that he was unaware of Awami League Member of Parliament for Magura-1 Constituency Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan joining the "king's party".

He said: "I came across this information in the media. I had no prior knowledge of it. I wasn't informed about his membership by anyone within the party."

Recent reports in some media outlets suggested that BNP Vice Chairman Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed played a role behind the scenes in forming BNM, with Shakib Al Hasan joining the team. A photo of Hafizuddin Ahmed and Shakib had also circulated.

Referring to Dr Hafizuddin Ahmed's nomination as chairman of BNM, Shahjahan mentioned: "From what I've seen in the media, Shakib visited Hafiz's residence and filled out the form to become a member of BNM. During that time, I was not serving as the secretary general of the party but as the joint convener. There were discussions at that time that Major Hafiz would potentially assume the role of chairman. It's possible that Shakib Al Hasan kept this matter confidential. I was unaware of any of this, and neither did anyone from the party provide clarification on the matter."

Responding to queries, Dr Shahjahan clarified: "On behalf of BNM, the collective decision was made to offer Major Hafiz the position of chairman. However, in the end, it didn't materialize. He didn't join."