Bangladesh police said yesterday at least 22 people had been killed in a powerful bomb blast that destroyed an office of the ruling Awami League party on Saturday night.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina blamed the blast on her political rivals, accusing them of trying to disrupt democracy.
"They [the opposition] are engaged in politics of blood. They are threatening to stage a repeat of 1975," she told parliament. In 1975, her father, independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family were killed in a coup.
Angry Awami supporters protested after the bombing - the latest in a series that have killed more than 80 in two years. Protesters stoned and fired shots at a car carrying opposition leader Ms Begum Khaleda Zia to south-western districts on Sunday, her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said.
Police said 15 people died at the scene of the Saturday night bombing in the town of Narayanganj, 15 km east of the capital Dhaka. Nearly 40 more were critically injured. Seven of the injured had died in hospital, police said.
The violence comes as Ms Hasina prepares to step down from office when her five-year term ends on July 13th, with elections under a caretaker authority due by October.
Ms Hasina's Awami League accuses opposition parties of using armed gangsters to disrupt stability and kill people in a bid to create anarchy in the country in the run-up to the polls.
"Even my life is under threat," Ms Hasina said. "People know who are threatening us.
"They are those who have been utterly frustrated by the failure of their campaign to oust my government."
The blood-letting began with the killing of Hasina's family in 1975 in the country's first army coup. It was followed by several mutinies.
No individual or group has yet claimed responsibility for the latest blast, but authorities have vowed to hunt down the bombers.
"The culprits must be found and punished," Home Minister Mr Mohammad Nasim said, on a visit to the blast site.
Police said Awami League politician Shamim Osman, who was holding a meeting of party workers and supporters at the time of the blast around 10 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Saturday night, was injured but recovering in hospital.
Mr Nasim said: "Unidentified persons, mixing with the crowd at the Awami League office, were believed to have carried the bomb. They targeted Shamim Osman . . . but luckily he survived."
Both the ruling and opposition parties say their rivals have "heavily armed" their cadres ahead of the polls. The election is crucial for both Ms Hasina, who is seeking a second term, and for former Prime Minister Ms Khaleda, who is seeking a return to power she lost in 1996.
The attack came two weeks after a blast killed 10 people at a Roman Catholic church at Banaripara in Hasina's home district, Gopalganj, in the country's south.