Bangladesh Elections: Bangladesh held key parliamentary elections on February 12 amid sporadic incidents of violence to elect a new government to replace the interim administration that took over after the fall of the Awami League regime in August 2024.
Election Commission Principal Secretary Akhtar Ahmed was quoted by news agency PTI as saying that around 48% voter turnout was recorded nationwide till 2:00 pm. The PTI report cited Bangladesh’s state-run news agency BSS.
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Nearly 127 million voters were registered to cast their vote at 42,779 polling centers in 299 constituencies across the country.
Vote for 13th parliamentary elections was held simultaneously with the referendum on the comprehensive 84-point reform package.
Voting began in 299 of the 300 parliamentary constituencies across the country at 7:30 am (local time) amid tight security and continued until 4:30 pm. However, in places where voters are inside the polling station, voting will continue until they cast their vote.
Counting of votes has already started in many places.
Elections in one constituency were canceled due to the death of a candidate.
Bipolar competition
The election is seen as a straight contest between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami in the absence of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s now-disbanded Awami League. Senior Advisor Muhammad YunusThe caretaker government banned Sheikh Hasina’s party from contesting the election.
Top officials from Bangladesh’s two main rival parties, as well as senior adviser Yunus, cast their votes early in the morning.
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chairman of the BNP Tariq Rahmanwho cast his vote at the center of Gulshan Model School and College in Dhaka’s posh Gulshan area, said the poll results would be accepted if the elections were held in a free, fair and neutral manner.
“If the elections are free, fair, impartial and without controversy, then why should we not accept them? We will accept them. However, there is one condition, of course, that the elections must be impartial and peaceful. If people cast their votes, there can be a democratic beginning in the country from today,” he said.
“He would accept the results if the elections were held in a free and fair manner”
Shafiqur Rahman, head of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami, which leads the 11-party alliance, cast his vote at Monipur Uchcha Vidyalaya and College.
He said his party would accept the election results if the polls were conducted in a free and neutral manner.
“We want results that come through a fair process. If the vote is free and fair, we will accept the result. Others must also accept it. That is the beauty of democracy. That is what we want,” he said.
The Electoral Commission implemented elaborate security measures and deployed nearly 1 million security personnel – the largest ever in the country’s election history.
There were reports of violence in some places.
In Gopalganj, for example, three persons, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured in an alleged hand grenade attack at a polling station, BDnews24 reported.
The blast occurred around 9:00 am at the Reshma International School center in Nichupara. Among the wounded were two members of Ansar, the paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for election security. The injured were taken to hospital.
Zahirul Islam, presiding at the polling station, said the injuries were minor and that voting resumed shortly after.
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In a separate incident, a series of hand grenade blasts occurred outside a polling booth in Munshiganj-3 constituency, temporarily disrupting voting.
The blasts took place around 10:15 am in front of Makhati Gurucharan High School Centre. According to officials, 10 to 12 crude bombs were detonated. Voting at the center was suspended for approximately 15 minutes.
Speaker Md Titumir said the explosions had created panic among voters.
“We stopped the voting for a while, but now it’s started again and people are casting their votes,” he said.
A BNP leader also died during an altercation with Jamaat-e-Islami activists outside a polling center in Khulna. The BNP said he died when a Jamaat leader “pushed” him into a tree and injured him. A Jamaat leader claims the victim “fell ill” amid the riots.
A total of 1,755 candidates from 50 political parties and 273 independents are running in the elections. BNP fielded the highest number of 291 candidates. 83 women are candidates.
Yunus, who promised to quickly transfer power to an elected government, voted at the Gulshan Model School and College polling station.
When are results expected?
The next morning, the results of the latest Bangladeshi elections began to emerge. This time, the results could take longer, as it will be both a vote in parliament and a vote in the referendum on the National Charter in July.
While some early trends may emerge later in the night, the final tally for the election is expected to be announced on the afternoon of Feb. 13, election officials said. Due to the higher number of parties and candidates in this election, the final count could take longer than expected.
BNP or Jamat-e-Islami? What do the pre-election polls say?
We will accept it if the elections are held in a free, fair and impartial manner.
Three major pre-election polls have been released on the likely outcome of the Bangladeshi election. Two of these polls gave the BNP a clear lead, while the third indicated a close fight between the BNP and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
Key things
- The election is a pivotal moment in Bangladesh’s political scene after the fall of the Awami League.
- Security measures were intensified and almost 1 million personnel were deployed to ensure security during the voting.
- The results could take longer than usual due to the complexity of the election process and the number of candidates.