BNP led Tarique Rahman set for massive win in Bangladesh elections

Centre-right Bangladesh National Party (BNP) led Tarique Rahman was going for an emphatic victory in the Bangladesh elections, with the Bangladesh TV and print organisations saying that they were leading in more than 200 seats in the 300-seat parliament.This means that they will be able to form the government with a two-third majority, if the official results endorse these projections, and then Rahman would not need the support of smaller parties to support his agenda in the parliament.Jamaat-e-Islami was leading in more than 60 seats — making them the second largest party and poised to become the main Opposition party in Bangladesh.
According to media projections on Friday morning, the “Yes” vote in the referendum was ahead of the “No” votes. The Election Commission has not announced the results yet.
As the counting proceeded throughout Thursday night and continued till Friday morning, it became clear that the people opted for the mainstream political party over the new parties.
However, the rise of the Islam party, Jamaat, cannot be underestimated.
These are the first national elections since the August 2024 ouster of Prime Miner Sheikh Hasina, according to poll projections based on field reports.Story continues below this ad
For the BNP’s main rival, Jamaat-e-Islami, this was a remarkable turnaround for a party that had been a political pariah for long. The bellwether for their victory was seen in the university elections last year, when they had won in Dhaka university as well as other government-run universities in the country.
This election outcome will not come as a surprise to many in Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League is not in the fray. Banned from contesting polls following her ouster, it had vacated the political landscape for the BNP and the Jamaat.
Although the Jamaat-e-Islami had tied up with the party floated student protesters, the National Citizens Party (NCP), the arrangement did not appear to have yielded much result, as per the outcomes available so far.
In the Bangladesh parliament of 300 seats, a party needs 151 for a simple majority and 200 for a two-third majority — that allows them to pass the Constitutional amendments.Story continues below this ad
With the final results expected Friday, voter turnout was about 48 per cent until 2 pm. The polls closed at 4.30 pm. According to Bangladesh media, the turnout was about 60 pc — lower than in 2008, when all the parties had contested in elections held under a caretaker government and the voting percentage was about 86%.
In the wee hours of Friday, there were no statements from the BNP yet, but the BNP released a couple of pictures of Tarique Rahman, poised to become the PM, in a celebratory mode.
On Thursday, after casting his vote, BNP chief Tarique Rahman said, “Today, the people of Bangladesh will exercise their rights and usher in a democratic Bangladesh… I personally strongly believe that if people across Bangladesh come out today and exercise their rights voting, Insha Allah, any conspiracy can be thwarted.”
Prof Mohammed Yunus, who led the country’s interim government as its chief advisor, had urged voters to make the day of elections the “birthday of a new Bangladesh”.Story continues below this ad
Each voter had to vote for an MP candidate and for a referendum on Constitutional reforms. The reforms limit the Prime Miner’s term to 10 years, reinstate the caretaker government, introduce a bi-cameral parliament and grant more independence to the judiciary, among other issues.
This made the exercise complicated and challenging, especially in a country of 12.7 crore voters.