Dhaka, Dec. 28 -- In Noakhali, where the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has long drawn strength from loyalty and organisation, the ground is shifting.

Three constituencies remain calm, their campaigns orderly and confident. In three others, however, the party's internal discipline has frayed, erupting into protests that have spilt onto roads and into public squares.

The unrest has turned candidate selection into a trial of authority -- and transformed what should have been a straightforward contest into a test of survival for the party's dominance in the district.

Three BNP nominees are widely regarded within the party as comparatively "risk-free", their candidacies untroubled by visible internal resistance.

In Noakhali-1 -- cover...