Highly placed sources within the BNP said disarray, inner party conflicts and violent clashes among the party activists in around 35 districts took a serious turn.

The intensity of the intra-party conflict over leadership in some 20 districts and five cities almost went beyond control, clearly an outcome of ignoring senior and dedicated leaders and activists.

There have been violent clashes, statements, counter statements and challenging of the leadership of Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman over the dissolution of the convening committee in Sylhet by the opponents for the last one week.

The two factions of BNP leaders and activists locked into a violent clash over a Jasas conference in Khulna on Saturday, leaving many people injured and causing damage to government establishments. The two groups have separate party offices in Khulna.

The executive committee meeting of Mymensingh district was foiled following a violent clash between two factions of BNP on Saturday night. On the following day, supporters of Abdullah Al Noman and Mir Nasiruddin declared counter committees after the conference of Jasas.

Five MPs of Chandpur district lodged a written complaint against State Minister for Education Ehsanul Haq Milon. In Kishoreganj, leaders and activists staged violent demonstrations immediately after the formation of a new committee. A series of violent clashes also took place in Faridpur.

The party leadership apprehended that the current disorder in different cities, district and thana units may expand further as immature gangs busy in making a fortune are handling party affairs.

Sources said senior and elderly leaders of the ruling party were completely ignored and not consulted when one of the joint secretaries of BNP initiated a recasting of the party by forming committees of district and thana units across the country over a year ago.

Moreover, the said joint secretary along with his 21 young Turks did not involve the leaders, who had been leading the party at different levels since its formation, during the party's January-March representatives conferences at the grass root level across the country.

Party insiders said top policymakers, ministers and senior leaders at the district and thana levels were forced to stay outside when the young members, led by the joint secretary, started forming committees at different tiers of the party as per direction from the "Hawa Bhaban".

The Hawa Bhaban-based leaders completed formation of new committees in 38 of 78 organising districts. But of the 38 new committees, 12 were formed at closed-door meetings in Dhaka with the district representatives present at the Hawa Bhaban, the alternative power centre of the ruling party.

According to the policymakers, the Hawa Bhaban did not involve any senior leader of the party and in most cases, the ministers and MPs of the districts were kept outside from the committee making process.

Party Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, who could not give his opinion, only gave approval to the committees already formed by the "new leadership" by just putting his initial, competent sources said.

There were common allegations that the Hawa Bhaban-based leaders included new generation leaders in the committees by removing the senior and dedicated local leaders with long BNP background, which clearly frustrated the latter.

Many senior leaders at that time complained to the party high command that non-students were making student leaders and that the Dhaka or urban-based young people were holding vital posts at the district and thana committees.

The party high command, however, okayed the move of the Hawa Bhaban-based leaders in the party's organising matters and ignored the suggestions, opinion and complaints lodged by the senior leaders, sources said.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, several important leaders of BNP said they have nothing to do to overcome the current crisis or halting the inner party conflicts because "a joint secretary of the party took unilateral decision in all party affairs."

They said the senior leadership has not been involved in party affairs for around the last two years and in many cases senior ministers and leaders were asked not to visit their districts during formation of the committees.

Now, according to the party insiders, most senior leaders, particularly the policymakers, are not interested to involve themselves to stop internal conflicts. "Let Hawa Bhaban contain the situation…they have both money and authority," said a top BNP leader on condition of anonymity.

According to the party insiders, intra-party conflicts in Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna, Mymensingh, Manikganj, Chandpur, Feni, Kishoreganj, Faridpur, Jhalokathi, Patuakhali, Satkhira, Narsingdi, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Rangpur and Tangail took a serious turn.

The party conflict is also increasing within the district committees, which were formed at closed-door meetings in Dhaka.

The Hawa Bhaban took several moves to patch up the conflicts in recent days, but the situation is worsening day by day and in many places local leaders and activists locked in armed conflicts.

The senior leaders fear a debacle in the next general election if the current conflicting situation across the country continues. They stress the need for immediate intervention of party chief Khaleda Zia herself into the issue by deploying her senior colleagues in their respective districts to remove the local leadership crisis.