Dhaka, February 13 The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) appeared poised for a decisive victory in the general elections of the South Asian nation on Friday, as counting progressed for the polls to elect a government that would replace the interim administration, which took charge after the collapse of the Awami League regime in August 2024.
Multiple media tallies showed that the BNP had won more than 151 seats in the 300-seat parliament.
The Election Commission (EC) has yet to make a formal announcement.
An EC spokesperson said that the results in several constituencies were still being processed and were likely to be announced in a few hours.
The election was seen as a direct contest between the BNP and its former ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of the ousted premier, Sheikh Hasina's now disbanded Awami League.
The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government has been in place for 18 months.
Voting for the 13th parliamentary elections was held along with a referendum on the implementation of a complex 84-point reform package, known as the July National Charter.
The BNP had earlier announced that if it won the election, then its chairman and former premier Khaleda Zia's son, Tarique Rahman, would be the next prime minister of Bangladesh.
"We are confident of forming the government by winning more than two-thirds of the 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 midday 'Juma' prayers instead of holding victory rallies.
The EC has yet to announce the voter turnout figure. It has dismissed allegations of manipulation regarding voters' appearances in polling centres.
"There have been debates over turnout percentages in past elections as well. Please do not question it now," Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasur Uddin told a reporter on Thursday evening.
He said that variations were natural as results from several thousand polling centres arrived at different times.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed earlier said that 47.91 per cent of voters had cast their ballots by 2 pm on Thursday at 36,031 of the 42,651 polling centres.
More than 2,000 candidates, including a number of independents, were contesting in the 299 of the 300 parliamentary constituencies that went to polls. Polling for one seat was postponed due to the death of a candidate.
The counting of votes began soon after voting concluded at 4:30 pm (local time).
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.
