Indifference of the senior BNP leaders to the 'plight' of party chief Khaleda Zia and her family has raised questions among the rank and file about their allegiance to the party leadership. A rift within BNP seems to be deepening with the young leaders accusing the seniors of hatching anti-party plots, said sources. Most of those who were ministers in the last five years are staying mum to save their skin.Things are more confusing for the party workers and the grassroots level leaders as they remain in the dark with no direction from the high command in last two months, added the sources.
Meanwhile, some of the senior leaders believe that misdeeds of the junior leaders obedient to Tarique Rahman are solely responsible for the mess now BNP is in. Although the writing was on the wall the then prime minister Khaleda Zia did not bother to take any action against them. The young ones began to voice their resentment towards the senior leaders especially after the Awami League (AL) had issued a statement to protest the extortion case filed against its President Sheikh Hasina. "The Awami League leaders have issued a strong statement to protest the case filed against Hasina though the situation was not in favour of them either. Unfortunately, ours did not say or do anything to condemn the arrest of Tarique or decry the government's attitude towards the BNP chairperson," a former lawmaker, who was a student leader in the 90s, told The Daily Star.