BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is annoyed at the activities of the supporters of two rival city BNP leaders, Sadeque Hossain Khoka and Mirza Abbas, centring the formation of the Dhaka City committee.

Party insiders said the chairperson is trying to solve the crisis regarding the formation of the Dhaka city unit committee but she could not put an end to it since senior BNP leaders refused to take the responsibility of overseeing the process.

"She is in trouble... two top leaders of the city are lobbying against each other while other senior leaders are not interested in taking charge of the unit due to internal disputes," a senior leader of the party told The Daily Star requesting not to be named.

Party leaders said Khaleda recently talked to BNP Vice-president MK Anwar and asked him to take the driving seat of the committee formation but Anwar refused and requested her not to give him such a "tough and complicated" job.

She also talked to some other senior leaders but could not finalise her decision regarding who would oversee the city committee formation.

Against this backdrop, a group of city leaders including a few ward councillors, who are known as loyal to DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, met the chairperson Thursday night to submit papers containing signatures of city BNP leaders and ward councillors. Followers of Khoka last week sat for a meeting and decided to collect the signatures for submission before Khaleda so that she can announce the city committee soon.

Khaleda, however, sharply reacted to the move and expressed resentment over the activities of two rival groups. "What have you all started? You can't do everything according to your own wishes," shesaid.

Party insiders said seeing the chairperson's mood, Khoka followers did not dare to submit the papers containing signatures. "Now there is no possibility of submitting the signatures to the chairperson." a city leader close to Khoka told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said the leaders met the chairperson and exchanged views over the committee so that nobody needs to submit any papers with signatures.

Hearing the news followers of Abbas, also a former DCC mayor, arranged different meetings and termed the Khoka follower's signature campaign a conspiracy against the party.