Bangladesh elections: BNP heading for 'sweeping' win

Public Lokpal
February 13, 2026

DHAKA: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tarique Rahman is heading for a thumping win in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, Bangladeshi TV stations projected Friday.

Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, in a party statement, claimed a "sweeping victory", without giving figures, calling for followers to give thanks in prayer on Friday rather than celebrate on the streets.

"There will be no victory rally despite the BNP's sweeping victory," the statement said. "We will hold special prayers at mosques after Jumma (Friday) prayers across the country."

At 5:30 am (2330 GMT Thursday), broadcasters projected that the BNP had pushed well past the 150-seat threshold to secure a clear majority in parliament.

Jamuna and Somoy television channels reported that the BNP had secured 197 seats.

The Islamist-led coalition headed by Jamaat-e-Islami had won 63 seats, the stations projected, a huge leap from its past results but far short of the outright win it had campaigned for.

The results are not official and counting continues for a total of the 299 constituencies of 300 in which voting took place.

A further 50 seats in parliament reserved for women will be named from party lists.

The BNP's Rahman, 60, now poised to become the next prime minister, was bullish in the run-up to the vote.

He told AFP two days before polling he was "confident" that his party -- crushed during the 15 years of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina's autocratic rule -- would regain power in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.

Peaceful polls

BNP election committee spokesman Mahdi Amin told reporters the party was on track to win at least two-thirds of seats.

"Buoyed by strong public support, the BNP will secure a two-thirds majority and form the government," Amin told reporters, adding that Rahman had won "both seats" he had run in.

Party workers spent the whole night in front of the BNP offices.

"We will join the nation-building effort led by Tarique Rahman," Md Fazlur Rahman, 45, told AFP.

"Over the last 17 years, we have suffered a lot, faced multiple politically motivated cases and lost a factory I owned."

AFP