Amid pressure from opponents in the party, Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad has convened a joint meeting on January 31 to discuss the appointment of GM Quader as the JP co-chair and removal of Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu from the secretary general post.

The party chief will announce the programme tomorrow from a reception programme of JP’s newly appointed secretary general Ruhul Amin Hawlader and GM Quader at Ershad’s Banani office in Dhaka.

An opponent group of Hawlader and Quader led by JP presidium members -- Raushan Ershad and Bablu -- however will boycott the reception, party insiders said.

Both the rival groups are preparing to stage a showdown in support of their demand during the joint meeting scheduled to be held at the Krishibid Institution at city’s Farmgate.

JP leaders and activists sharply divided in two groups after Ershad all of a sudden on January 17 in Rangpur announced his younger brother as the party’s co-chairman meaning GM Quader is going to be the next chief of the party.

Aggrieved by the decision, Bablu and some JP lawmakers including the three ministers on the following day rejected Quader’s appointment and announced Raushan, also leader of the opposition, as the party’s acting chair.

Crisis in the party deepened further as Ershad on Tuesday an urgent press conference announced to remove Bablu from his post and appointed Hawlader as JP new secretary general.

Most of the MPs in the JP parliamentary party at a meeting later in the day asked Ershad to hold a meeting of the party’s presidium and take decision on GM Quader’s fate after elaborate discussion there.

Ershad however rejected the call saying he would not change his decision till his least breath.

Raushan on Saturday issued a letter to the JP chief reiterating the call for holding a discussion on Quader’s appointment and changeover in the secretary general post.

Amid increasing resentment of Raushan-led group, Ershad on advice of GM Quader finally agreed to hold the party’s joint meeting, sources said.

Presidents and secretaries of JP district units, upazila units, presidium members, MPs, leaders of JP central executive committee and chiefs of JP’s front organisations were asked to attend the meeting.

Talking to The Daily Star, Quader today said he will not remain in his post if JP leaders in the meeting do not want him to carry on with his new assignment.