The newly elevated BNP leader Mirza Abbas, who has been given the helm of the crucial Dhaka city unit to inject dynamism and rejuvenate party operations in the capital, is still so overcome with resentment due to formation of his team "without his knowledge" that the body has failed to hold its first meeting till yesterday, overshadowing the party cause.     
A defiant Abbas refused to okay an iftar party doubling as the committee's first meeting scheduled for yesterday even after negotiations with two leaders the day before.
Party insiders said Abbas had expressed utter discontent over making Habib-un-Nabi Sohel the second man in the committee and including leaders loyal to Abbas' predecessor Sadeque Hossain Khoka and party Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The sources said Abbas was disappointed as he was not informed anything about this. The new head believes that some "dedicated and tested leaders" were not included.  
A member of the new committee, Barkatullah Bulu, and a joint convener, Abdul Awal Mintoo, among others, had been trying relentlessly to convince Abbas since the 56-member committee was announced on Friday night with Abbas as the convener and Sohel as the member secretary.
After Sunday's meeting between the new leaders of the committee and Abbas, the chief, it was decided that the body would hold its maiden meeting as well as an iftar party yesterday. “But the programme was postponed as Abbas didn't agree,” a new leader of the unit told The Daily Star, seeking anonymity.
“After hectic meetings with Abbas on Sunday and yesterday, it was finalised that the new committee will sit on July 23 in our Dhaka city office to fix the next course of action,” he said.
The new body will also visit party founder and former president Ziaur Rahman's grave on July 25, the BNP leader said, adding that Abbas had consented to the programmes.
The new Dhaka city unit chief has not talked to journalists about his grievances, while according to sources, some influential party leaders have advised Sohel not to open his mouth until Abbas does.