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, held after a period of political instability and security concerns, including attacks on minorities, followed the August ouster of Sheikh Hasina by student-led protests.
It is becoming increasingly clear that BNP leader Tarique Rahman will replace the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as prime minister.
According to reports, the BNP has secured more than 151 of the 300 seats in parliament, likely winning more. The Jamaat-e-Islami, a hardline party, is expected to win around 75 seats.
The Awami League party, led by Hasina, has been barred from contesting the elections.
"The BNP is set to form the government after winning a majority of seats," 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 who congratulated Rahman on the BNP's performance.
"I extend my warmest congratulations to Mr. Tarique Rahman on leading BNP to a decisive victory in the Bangladesh parliamentary elections," Modi said 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 said.
The BNP thanked Modi for recognizing the election results and expressed hope that relations between the two countries would 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 verdict of the people, and Mr. Narendra Modi has done so. We thank him," senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan said.
Relations between India and Bangladesh have been strained since the Hasina government fell.
According to an EC spokesperson, the results in several seats are still being processed and are expected to be announced soon.
The US Embassy in Dhaka has congratulated the people of Bangladesh on what it described as a successful national election, recognizing 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," the post read.
The election was a direct contest between the BNP and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina's now banned Awami League.
Voting for the 13th parliamentary elections was held along with a referendum on the implementation of the July National Charter, a complex 84-point reform package.
The BNP was in power from 2001 to 2006 when Jamaat was its crucial partner, with two of its leaders serving as ministers.
Jamaat has raised allegations of "abnormal delays" and "result manipulation," warning that it would launch a tough movement if the public mandate were "snatched away."
Speaking to reporters at the Election Commission building, Jamaat's assistant secretary general Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair alleged that returning officers were intentionally delaying results to favor a "particular party."
"Results should have been declared by 8 pm or 9 pm according to the signed sheets given to polling agents in the constituencies contested by our top leaders," Zubair said.
Jamaat's major ally in an 11-party right-wing alliance, the National Citizen Party (NCP), which was formed with interim government chief Muhammad Yunus last year, has also raised allegations of "result manipulation and planned fraud" in multiple Dhaka constituencies.
"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.
Bhuiiyan, 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.
The BNP had earlier announced that if it wins, its chairman and former premier Khaleda Zia's son, Tarique Rahman, will be Bangladesh's next prime minister.
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 EC was yet to announce the voter turnout figure. It dismissed allegations of manipulation regarding voters' appearances in polling centres.
"There were debates over turnout percentages in past elections as well. Please don't question it now," Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasur Uddin told a reporter on Thursday evening.
He said variations were natural as results from several thousand polling centres arrived at different times.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on Thursday said 47.91 per cent of voters had cast ballots by 2 pm on polling day at 36,031 of the 42,651 polling centres.
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.
Voting 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.
