Dhaka — Vote counting is underway across Bangladesh following the close of polls at 4:30 PM Bangladesh Time on Thursday, with early trends showing the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) pulling ahead in what observers are calling the nation’s first genuinely competitive election in nearly two decades. The landmark vote, which drew approximately 48 percent of the country’s 127 million eligible voters, marks a dramatic turning point for South Asia’s eighth most populous nation, 18 months after a student-led uprising toppled longtime autocrat Sheikh Hasina.
As of late Thursday evening, initial counts indicate BNP leading in 24 constituencies and having secured at least five seats outright, while the 11-party coalition led by Jamaat-e-Islami shows strength in 12 seats with two victories confirmed, according to reports from multiple news outlets citing Election Commission sources. The BNP alliance holds a narrow but significant edge with a 48.1 percent vote share compared to Jamaat’s 45 percent, setting the stage for what could be Bangladesh’s most consequential government formation since independence.
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The atmosphere at polling stations across Bangladesh was notably festive, a stark contrast to the stage-managed elections that characterized Hasina’s 15-year authoritarian grip on power. First-time voters compared the experience to “Eid,” Bangladesh’s most celebrated holiday, while seasoned citizens spoke emotionally about exercising their democratic rights after years of disenfranchisement.
“I want this country to prosper,” Jainab Lutfun Naher, a voter from Dhaka’s upscale Gulshan area, told Al Jazeera after casting her ballot. “I want it to be democratic, where everyone has rights and freedom.”
The election represents more than a simple transfer of power. Alongside choosing 300 members of parliament across 299 constituencies—one seat was postponed following a candidate’s death—voters simultaneously participated in a constitutional referendum on the July National Charter, an ambitious 84-point reform package that proposes fundamental changes including prime ministerial term limits, a bicameral legislature, and enhanced judicial independence.
Tarique Rahman, the 59-year-old chairman of the BNP and son of late Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, appears positioned to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister based on early vote counts. Rahman himself is leading comfortably in both constituencies he contested—receiving 60,215 votes in Dhaka-17 and 37,465 in Bogura-6 when last reports emerged.
The political scion, who returned from 17 years of exile in London last December, has campaigned on a platform of anti-corruption, economic revival, and restoring the rule of law. His manifesto includes providing financial assistance to poor families through a “Family Card” system, recruiting 100,000 healthcare workers predominantly from women, and implementing a decade-long cap on prime ministerial tenure—a direct response to Hasina’s extended autocracy.
“There is a clear and huge difference between BNP and the rival political party,” declared BNP Election Steering Committee spokesperson Mahdi Amin at a press briefing in Dhaka, describing the party’s victory as “inevitable.”
The BNP’s resurgence represents a dramatic reversal of fortune. In the 2018 election—widely condemned as neither free nor fair by international observers—the party was reduced to just seven seats as thousands of its leaders faced arrest. The 2024 election saw another BNP boycott amid what the party termed systematic repression.
While trailing the BNP in overall numbers, the performance of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led coalition has exceeded many expectations, particularly given the Islamist party’s tumultuous recent history. Banned from electoral politics in 2015 under Hasina’s government and prohibited from the 2014, 2018, and 2024 elections, Jamaat has emerged as a formidable force under the leadership of 67-year-old Shafiqur Rahman.
The coalition’s strength lies partly in its partnership with the National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by student leaders who spearheaded the 2024 uprising that ousted Hasina. This alliance has proven particularly effective in attracting younger voters disillusioned with traditional political establishments.
“It is a turning point,” Shafiqur Rahman told reporters after casting his vote. “People demand change. They desire change. We also desire the change.”
Speaking at a later press briefing at Jamaat’s Moghbazar office, Rahman pledged to accept the election results unconditionally “regardless of others,” while cautioning against premature victory claims. The Jamaat leader noted that while initial trends showed his coalition leading in some areas, full clarity would not emerge until around 11 PM Thursday.
Jamaat’s campaign has emphasized justice, ending corruption, and presenting the party as a modernized political force despite its conservative Islamic ideology. Some political analysts suggest the party has benefited from former Awami League supporters who view it as a “lesser of two evils” compared to the BNP, which has taken a more punitive stance toward Hasina loyalists at the local level.
Perhaps the most significant factor in this election is the unprecedented role of young voters. Approximately 56 million voters—44 percent of the electorate—are between ages 18 and 37, with nearly five million casting ballots for the first time. This demographic bulge represents both a generational shift and a direct political legacy of the 2024 uprising, which saw hundreds of young protesters killed by security forces acting on Hasina’s orders.
The election has been described by observers as the world’s first “Gen Z-inspired” vote, reflecting how youth-led movements globally are translating street activism into electoral politics. The National Citizen Party embodies this transition most clearly, with leaders like Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud—both prominent in the 2024 protests—now contesting parliamentary seats.
“I was registered to vote in the last two elections but couldn’t cast my ballot. This is my first time voting,” said Asif Mahmud after casting his vote in Dhaka. “For nearly 40 million young voters like me, this is a new experience.”
Economic anxieties drive much of this youth engagement. Bangladesh’s youth unemployment rate stood at 4.48 percent in 2024, with a staggering 87 percent of the unemployed being educated, including 21 percent with university degrees. A 2024 study found that 55 percent of Bangladeshi youth wished to emigrate due to lack of opportunities—a damning indictment of the previous government’s failure to translate economic growth into inclusive prosperity.
The incoming government inherits a deeply troubled economy in the world’s second-largest garment exporter. GDP growth slowed to 3.97 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2025, down from 4.22 percent the previous year—a far cry from the rapid expansion Bangladesh enjoyed through much of the 2010s.
Inflation has emerged as voters’ primary concern, reaching 8.58 percent in January 2026 with food prices rising even more sharply. More than two-thirds of respondents in pre-election surveys cited rising prices as a major worry, according to polling by the Communication Research Foundation and Bangladesh Elections and Public Opinion Studies.
“Economic pressure, including youth unemployment and stagnating growth, is fueling frustration among a new generation that demands real opportunity rather than symbolic change,” noted Nusrat Jahan, a political analyst at Dhaka University, speaking to Al Jazeera.
Both major alliances have made economic revival central to their platforms, though with differing approaches. The BNP emphasizes attracting foreign investment and revitalizing the crucial garments sector, which accounts for over 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export earnings. Jamaat’s coalition has focused on addressing inequality, inflation control, and what it terms “people-oriented” economic reforms.
Corruption consistently ranks as Bangladesh’s most pressing governance challenge. The nation placed 152nd out of 182 countries in Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, slipping from 151st the previous year. Both alliances have promised anti-corruption crackdowns, though skeptics note that such pledges have proven hollow in the past.
The election outcome carries significant implications for South Asian geopolitics, particularly regarding Bangladesh’s relationship with neighboring India and increasingly assertive Chinese interests in the region.
Under Hasina, Bangladesh maintained close—critics said subservient—ties with New Delhi, granting India favorable trade terms, transit rights, and security cooperation while Beijing simultaneously increased its economic footprint through infrastructure investments. The incoming government will need to navigate these competing interests carefully.
A BNP-led administration could paradoxically move closer to India despite the party’s traditional nationalism, as Rahman has signaled interest in maintaining regional stability. However, a Jamaat-led coalition might seek to diversify Bangladesh’s international partnerships, potentially strengthening ties with Pakistan, Turkey, and other Muslim-majority nations—a shift that would concern Indian policymakers.
“The election result is expected to influence Bangladesh’s foreign relations significantly,” noted foreign policy analysts. Climate change adaptation, water-sharing agreements with India, and managing the Rohingya refugee crisis will test whichever government emerges from this vote.
The most notable aspect of this election is who’s not participating. The Awami League, which dominated Bangladeshi politics for 15 years and won four consecutive elections (three widely criticized as fraudulent), has been suspended from electoral activity following the interim government’s decision to ban the party under anti-terrorism legislation.
Former Prime Minister Hasina, 78, remains in exile in India following her dramatic August 2024 flight from Bangladesh as protesters stormed her official residence. In November 2025, the International Crimes Tribunal convicted her and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal of war crimes and sentenced both to death in absentia for ordering the brutal crackdown that killed an estimated 1,400 protesters.
The election also proceeds without Khaleda Zia, Rahman’s mother and longtime BNP leader, who died on December 30, 2025, after prolonged illness. Her death marked the end of the “Two Begums” era that defined Bangladeshi politics for decades—the rivalry between Zia and Hasina that often descended into vindictive persecution and democratic backsliding.
Overseeing this historic transition is Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has led Bangladesh’s interim government since Hasina’s ouster. The microfinance pioneer, while promising to step down once the new government takes power, has championed the July National Charter as essential for preventing a return to autocratic rule.
“We have ended the nightmare and begun a new dream,” Yunus declared after casting his vote Thursday morning. He extended “heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to the entire nation” for the peaceful conduct of polling, describing it as “the beginning of an unprecedented journey toward a new Bangladesh.”
The referendum on Yunus’s reform charter runs parallel to the parliamentary election, with voters receiving pink ballots asking whether they approve the 84-point package. If the majority votes “yes,” the newly elected Parliament will function as a Constituent Assembly for its first 180 days to formalize the Charter into constitutional law.
The election proceeded under intense international scrutiny, with approximately 500 foreign observers monitoring the process. The European Union deployed its largest-ever election observation mission to Bangladesh, led by chief observer Ivars Ijabs, with 200 observers from all 27 EU member states plus Canada, Norway, and Switzerland.
The Commonwealth Observer Group, headed by former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, also monitored the polls. Their preliminary assessments, due within 48 hours, will significantly influence international perceptions of the election’s legitimacy.
Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin hailed the vote as marking Bangladesh’s departure from the “arranged elections” of recent history. “Bangladesh has boarded the train of democracy,” Uddin declared, expressing confidence the nation would soon “reach its destination.”
However, the campaign period was not without violence. At least 16 political activists were killed since elections were announced in December, with five deaths occurring during the final campaign stretch. Police records show more than 600 people injured in political clashes, while crude bombs were detonated near seven polling centers in southwestern Gopalganj hours before voting began.
UN experts had warned of “growing intolerance, threats and attacks” and a “tsunami of disinformation” targeting young first-time voters particularly. Fact-checking organizations documented extensive use of deepfake videos, misleading captions, and fabricated statements—techniques attributed to foreign actors, Awami League supporters operating from exile, and “bot armies” working for various political parties.
Official results are expected to emerge gradually through Friday morning, with the Election Commission facing the complex task of tallying both white parliamentary ballots and pink referendum ballots across 42,766 polling stations nationwide. The process involves approximately 785,225 election officials conducting hand counts under the watch of party agents and observers.
For the first time in Bangladesh’s electoral history, postal voting allowed nearly 15 million overseas workers to participate—a recognition of the crucial role their remittances play in the national economy. This innovation, alongside technological enhancements and strengthened dispute-resolution mechanisms, makes the 2026 election “the most procedurally complex in the country’s history,” according to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
The atmosphere across Bangladesh Thursday evening was one of cautious optimism mixed with nervous anticipation. After years of authoritarian rule punctuated by fraudulent elections, citizens appeared both hopeful that democratic norms might be restored and anxious that the transition could still be derailed.
“During Hasina’s time, we couldn’t cast our votes,” said Shakil Ahmed, a driver in Dhaka. “It’s my right to vote. This time, I won’t miss it.”
Whether that vote translates into accountable governance, economic opportunity, and genuine democratic consolidation remains the question that will define Bangladesh’s next chapter. As vote counting continues into the night, a nation of 173 million waits to learn whether February 12, 2026, will indeed mark the birth of the “new Bangladesh” that so many have sacrificed to achieve.
This is a developing story. Results will be updated as official counts are released by the Bangladesh Election Commission.
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