Bangladesh Elections: Bangladesh votes today in the country’s first parliamentary elections since a deadly uprising in 2024 that marked the end of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year term in office.
Queues stretched outside polling stations in the capital, Dhaka, as polls opened in the South Asian country of 170 million in a highly anticipated election, news agencies from the country reported.
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More than 300,000 soldiers and police are deployed across the country, with UN experts warning ahead of the vote of “growing intolerance, threats and attacks” and a “tsunami of disinformation” targeting millions of young first-time voters in particular, AFP reported.
Bangladesh Elections: BNP versus Jamaat-e-Islami
Prime ministerial frontrunner Tarique Rahman, 60, is confident his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) can regain power – but faces a tough challenge from the Muslim-majority country’s biggest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, has launched a disciplined grassroots campaign and, if he wins, the former political prisoner could lead the first Islamist-led government in constitutionally secular Bangladesh.
Opinion polls vary widely, although most give the BNP the lead, with some suggesting a knife-edge race.
“The significance of this day is far-reaching,” interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who will step down once the new government takes power, said in a speech to the nation ahead of the vote.
The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has led the South Asian nation since the end of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule. Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity for a bloody crackdown on protesters during her final months in power and remains in hiding in neighboring India.
“The crucial test for Bangladesh now will be to ensure that the election is fair and impartial and that all parties then accept the result,” International Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean told AFP.
Police records show that five people were killed and more than 600 were injured in political clashes during the campaign.
Bangladesh Elections: Who Are the Major Players?
Hasina left Bangladesh following a student-led uprising in August 2024. In the following eighteen months, Bangladesh’s political scene changed dramatically. Her Awami League was barred from contesting the election by the interim administration of chief adviser Muhammad Yunus.
The main election fight is between Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tariq Rahman and a newly formed alliance of 11 parties, officially known as the “like-minded 11 parties”. The alliance is led by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Civic Party.
Tarique Rahman, son of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaled Zia, led the BNP campaign. Rahman could be the country’s next prime minister, according to opinion polls.
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Rahman’s mother Khaleda Zia died in December 2025. Rahman assumed the role of BNP chairman after returning from exile in London to Bangladesh. Zia lived in self-imposed exile for 17 years to avoid multiple criminal investigations launched against him in Bangladesh during Hasina’s rule. All charges against him have been dropped since the Awami League was ousted from power.
The BNP is a coalition of 10 parties. It is being contested by an alliance of 11 parties led by Jamaat-e-Islami, including the student-led National Civic Party (NCP), which was prominent in the 2024 anti-Hasin protests.
The Jamaat campaign is led by 67-year-old Shafiqur Rahman, who has pledged to protect democratic rights if elected.
Bangladesh Elections: Parties’ Attitudes towards India
According to the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS-NUS), the BNP has had a “thorny relationship” with India in the past. Singapore.
The late Khaleda Zia ruled Bangladesh three times – from 1991-1996, briefly in 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. Unlike Hasina, Khaleda framed India through a more skeptical lens, says ISAS.
“The BNP’s rhetoric often portrayed Indian initiatives as hegemonic and unequal, opposed transit arrangements and highlighted unresolved disputes over water and trade,” ISAS claimed.
The Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami is known for its anti-India stance in the past.
His boss, or Ameer, Dr Shafiqur Rahman, was quoted Dhaka Tribune he recently said: “On February 12, the people will show the red card to the slaves of hegemony…”
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Many saw this as an indirect message for India.
Jamaat’s ally, the National Civic Party (NCP), also displayed an anti-India stance during the 2024 uprising against Hasina.
Bangladesh Election: What is the Majority Mark?
Voters will elect 299 legislators directly, and another 50 women will be selected from party candidates. The election at one seat was canceled due to the death of a candidate.
The Parliament of Bangladesh, or Jatiya Sangsad, has 350 seats, of which 300 are directly elected seats and 50 are reserved for women.
The significance of this day is far-reaching.
To form a government, a party or coalition needs a simple majority of directly elected seats — at least 151 seats out of 300. The 50 reserved seats for women are allocated after election results based on the party’s share of 300. These do not affect the initial threshold for forming a government.
Members of Parliament serve a five-year term.