Bangladesh police said today at least 22 people had been killed in a powerful bomb blast that destroyed an office of the ruling Awami League party last night.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina blamed the blast on her political rivals, accusing them of trying to disrupt democracy and halt Bangladesh's march towards development.
"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 also stoned and fired shots at a car carrying opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia to southwestern districts today, her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said.
Police said 15 people died at the scene of the 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.
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 Ms Hasina's family in 1975 in the country's first army coup. It was followed by several mutinies, including one in 1981 that killed Khaleda's husband and one-time President Ziaur Rahman.