Dhaka, February 13 – The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is poised for a decisive victory in the landmark parliamentary elections, and is set to return to power after two decades.
The elections were significant because they followed a period of political turmoil, instability, and security concerns, including attacks on minorities following student-led protests that ousted Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
It is becoming increasingly clear that BNP leader Tarique Rahman will become the prime minister, replacing the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
According to reports, the BNP has won more than 151 of the 300 seats in the parliament, and is likely to win more. The Jamaat-e-Islami, a hardline party close to Islamabad, is expected to win around 75 seats.
The Awami League party of Hasina has been barred from contesting the elections.
"The BNP is set to form the government after winning a majority of the seats," the BNP's media cell posted on X.
The Election Commission (EC) has yet to make a formal announcement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the few leaders to congratulate Rahman on the BNP's performance.
"I extend my warm congratulations to Mr. Tarique Rahman on leading the BNP to a decisive victory in the Bangladesh parliamentary elections," Modi said in a post on X.
"India will continue to support a democratic, progressive, and inclusive Bangladesh. I look forward to working with you to strengthen our multifaceted relations and advance our shared development goals," he added.
The BNP thanked Modi for recognizing the election results and expressed hope that relations between the two countries will be strengthened under the new government.
"We thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for congratulating our leader, Tarique Rahman. It is great that a democratic country recognizes the people's verdict, and Mr. Narendra Modi has done so. We thank him," senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan said.
India-Bangladesh relations were strained after the collapse of the Hasina-led government.
According to an EC spokesperson, results in several seats are still being processed and are likely to be announced in a few hours.
The US Embassy in Dhaka has congratulated the people of Bangladesh on what it described as a successful national election, extending special recognition to BNP and Rahman for their "historic victory."
"Congratulations to the people of Bangladesh on a successful election and to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Tarique Rahman on your historic victory. The United States looks forward to working with you to achieve shared goals of prosperity and security for both our countries," its social media post read.
The election was seen as a direct contest between the BNP and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of ousted premier Hasina's now-banned Awami League.
BNP was in power between 2001 and 2006 when Jamaat was its crucial partner, with two of its leaders serving as ministers.
Voting for the 13th parliamentary elections was held on Thursday along with a referendum on the implementation of a complex 84-point reform package, known as the July National Charter.
Meanwhile, Jamaat has raised allegations of "abnormal delays" and "result tampering," warning that it would launch a tough movement if the public mandate were "snatched away".
Speaking to reporters at the Election Commission building early morning, Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair alleged that returning officers were intentionally delaying results to favour a "particular party."
"In the seats contested by our top leaders, results should have been declared by 8 pm or 9 pm according to the signed sheets given to polling agents," Zubair said.
Jamaat’s major ally in an 11-party right-wing alliance, the National Citizen Party (NCP), floated with interim government chief Yunus last year, also brought allegations of “result tampering and planned fraud” in multiple Dhaka seats in particular.
"Psychological pressure and administrative manipulation were being used to overturn results, particularly in constituencies contested by top leaders of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance," NCP spokesman and party’s election committee chairman Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan said in a predawn briefing.
Bhuiyan, who until recently served as an adviser or minister in Yunus’ interim cabinet, particularly alleged discrepancies in a Dhaka constituency, claiming that although NCP candidate Nahid Islam was leading by nearly 6,000 votes, the returning officer showed a margin of only 1,500 votes in the seat.
The BNP had earlier announced that if it wins the election, then its chairman and former premier Khaleda Zia's son, Tarique Rahman, would be the next prime minister of Bangladesh.
If the party wins, Rahman will be Bangladesh's first male prime minister in 35 years.
"We are confident of forming the government by winning more than two-thirds of seats," BNP's central election steering committee spokesman Mahdi Amin told a media briefing in the early hours of Friday.
Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh in December last year after over 17 years in self-exile, asked party leaders and activists to offer special prayers across the country after mid-day 'Juma' prayers instead of holding victory rallies.
The Election Commission announced on Friday that the voter turnout for the polls was 59.44 per cent. It also dismissed allegations of manipulation regarding voters' appearances in polling centres.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah on Friday said the spontaneous and massive participation of people in the election proved that 'we are ultimately victorious as a nation.'
"We had only one commitment to the nation: to conduct a neutral election. We have tried our best to ensure that. We are deeply grateful to the people of the country as they participated spontaneously in this massive arrangement. This has proved that we are ultimately victorious as a nation."
On Thursday evening, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasur Uddin said, "There were debates over turnout percentages in past elections as well. Please don't question it now."
He said variations were natural as results from several thousand polling centres arrived at different times.
More than 2,000 candidates, including a number of independents, were in the fray for 299 of the 300 parliamentary constituencies that went to the polls.
Polling for one seat was postponed due to the death of a candidate.
The Election Commission made elaborate security arrangements for the elections, deploying nearly 1 million security personnel -- the largest-ever in the country's electoral history.
