BNP lawmaker Harunur Rashid submitted his resignation to Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury at her office yesterday.

On December 11, five of the seven BNP MPs tendered their resignation to the Speaker as part of their anti-government movement with a 10-point demand that includes the dissolution of parliament.

The MPs who resigned that day were Md Zahidur Rahman of Thakurgaon-3, Md Mosharof Hosen of Bogura-4, Gulam Mohammad Siraj of Bogura-6, Md Aminul Islam of Chapainawabganj-2, and Rumeen Farhana, from women's reserved seats.

Harunur, who was from Chapainawabganj-3, was abroad at the time and Abdus Sattar Buiyan, the ailing MP of Brahmanbaria-2, tendered their resignations through email.

Later, the Parliament Secretariat issued a gazette notification declaring the seats of six BNP MPs vacant.

Harunur's seat, however, was not declared vacant as his resignation letter was not accepted because the JS secretariat was not sure his signature was on the resignation letter.

The seats of all seven BNP MPs are now vacant, according to the constitution.

Harunur told reporters yesterday that he appealed to other MPs from different political parties to resign from parliament to "restore democracy and the rule of law".

The EC on Sunday announced that it would hold by-polls in Thakurgaon-3, Bogra-4, Bogra-6, Chapainawabganj-2, and Brahmanbaria-2 on February 1, next year.