“In recent years, there has been a strong inclination on the side of both of them to create their own reality,” said a retired Bangladeshi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of offending the leaders. “They both think they’ve won.”

Much of the recent history of Bangladesh has been driven by the conflict between these two leaders. Diplomatic cables sent from the embassy in Dhaka, released by WikiLeaks, are a litany of exasperation: “Bangladesh Political Rerun: The Sheikh Hasina-Khaleda Zia Show is Back on Air” and “Zia Rehashes Old Complaints About Awami League.”

The grievances are, in a way, an outgrowth of dynastic politics. Both women were thrust into politics by violence. Mrs. Zia was the tongue-tied wife of Bangladesh’s first military ruler when he was killed in 1981.

Mrs. Hasina was the daughter of Bangladesh’s first president, studying abroad when, in 1975, a group of soldiers drove a tank into her house and shot a dozen members of her family, including her 10-year-old brother. Mrs. Hasina has long suspected her rival’s camp of involvement, and is particularly stung that Mrs. Zia chooses to hold her public birthday celebration on the anniversary of her family’s murders, which Mrs. Hasina designated a national day of mourning.

The two women have barely ever met in person, and when they try to conduct state business, rage over the past leaps up to blind them. In 2007, Bangladeshi generals grew so frustrated by the friction that they jailed both women on corruption charges, a plan that was known as the “minus two solution.”

But within two years the two were out, greeted by cheering crowds.

“That was really naïve, because the fact of the matter is that these are the two most popular leaders in the country, and there is no space for anyone else,” said a Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “These parties and the leaders know how to deal with each other. They’ve been doing so for 22 years.”

This turned out to be the year they could not. One can speculate on the reasons. Both women are in their late 60s and hoping to ensure succession, probably to their sons. Political violence has been at an incendiary level all year because the government began a campaign to root out Islamists from politics. Because Mrs. Zia formed an election-time alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamic party, government hard-liners began to describe her as a supporter of militants.