In a social media post, Cumilla-4 Member of Parliament Hasnat Abdullah on Monday claimed that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was no longer in control of the BNP-led government, saying it had been “hijacked”.

“Tarique Rahman is no longer running this government. The BNP government has been hijacked,” Hasnat wrote in a post on his verified Facebook account at around 4pm.

The post, written in English, did not provide any explanation or context for his remarks.

Within an hour, the post had received over 80,000 reactions, including approximately 16,000 laugh reactions and 7,000 love reactions.

Hasnat's remarks come a day after a meeting of ruling party lawmakers chaired by Tarique Rahman at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Sunday evening, where he instructed the party to take a tough stance against extortionists and land grabbers.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister and Leader of the House said there was no place for such elements in the BNP and that no one would be allowed to evade accountability for wrongdoing by using the party's name.

A series of recent high-profile incidents has drawn attention to allegations of extortion and other wrongdoing involving people linked to the ruling BNP.

In September, popular content creator and actor Salman Muqtadir alleged that a group of men linked to the ruling BNP vandalised and looted his studio in Dhaka's ECB Chattar area late following an apparent dispute over an extortion demand involving the property's landowner.

Separately, BNP’s reserved-seat lawmaker Ferdousi Ahmed Mishti was asked to resign, centring the attack on the RADDA MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur in September.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman called for legal proceedings and punishment for those responsible for the attack, saying organisational action against those linked to the incident was not enough.

Mishti has denied involvement, and an investigation into allegations concerning her role is ongoing.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed had said that investigators were examining allegations involving a lawmaker and that action would be taken if the person's involvement was established.